PAEONIAE EXERCITU AD REGEM REGUM I: From Girl to Glaive
by Adri Mars
Summary: Five years after the end of the Starscourge, Lestallum library archivist and former Kingsglaive soldier, Briony Pacem, shares the past memories she recently lost from ten years ago as a Glaive to old friends and comrades, right after she receives a set of undocumented original manuscripts of the Cosmogony from a mysterious donor. 1st part of a trilogy.
1. Chapter 1

_**An Excerpt from REAL STARSCOURGE TALES FROM REAL, EVERYDAY LUCIANS, vol. 2: Lestallum, Cleigne**_

 _ **Interviews and Short Stories compiled by the Meldacio Hunters of Lucis**_

 _(second volume of the series published in M.E. 771, five years after the end of the Starscourge)_

 _Our second interview story of the Starscourge Tales Anthology comes from Lestallum, the_ _"City of Light" of Lucis, who goes by the name of Briony Pacem (40, as of this writing), a simple young lady working as a local archivist at the Kingdom of Lucis Public Library, Lestallum Branch. Like our previous interviewee for this volume, Lestallum-native Briony knew a lot more of the real dangers and struggles against the daemons and witnessed and confronted daemons more dangerous and deadly than those we see around our home soils. During the Starscourge, she was a former soldier of the Kingsglaive, the coveted royal elite military battalion of Lucis founded exclusively by the late King Regis Lucis Caelum CXIII, as a member of the battalion's intel unit. Unlike many other Kingsglaive soldiers in general, she and a select few of the intel unit were deployed directly behind enemy lines at Tenebrae and Niflheim to gather intel, spying, and if necessary, infiltration and assassination of enemy targets in secret._

 _Like many remaining Kingsglaive soldiers, she suffered from partial amnesia ten years before the traces of the Long Night. Fifteen years later from that fateful night, Briony was selected to be part of an anthology and was asked to contribute any memorable story that she can recall from her past during the Starscourge. She chose to write about an unusual moment in her life that eventually led her to find her calling and enlisting to the coveted Kingsglaive._

 _She begins her story by introducing a mysterious childhood imaginary friend named Nyx, who somehow gave her the influence to finding her own path, leaving her naive and simple small town girl life, and pursue a path in civil service as a Glaive and the eventual relocation to the Crown City._

I'm Briony Pacem, an archivist at the Lestallum Branch of the Kingdom of Lucis Public Library system. A few colleagues and I are working on re-analyzing through comparisons and contrasts of the past and present versions of the _Cosmogony_ , as an attempt to release another revised edition to be published and released throughout Eos. Call it the post-Starscourge edition of the _Cosmogony_ , as we will also be including many extensive notes based on personal experiences (such as the publication of these _Real Starscourge Tales_ series), news clippings, as well as many interviews from many key individuals who have made an impact on our world during that long period of darkness.

I have been working as an archivist for some three years now. A year before that, I was unemployed and did mostly voluntary work during the rebuilding and restoration of Lestallum and all of Lucis post-Starscourge. Ten years before that, I was a Glaive, both served behind enemy territory and out in the battlefield, weeks before the so-called peace treaty signing between Lucis and Niflheim. I briefly lived in Insomnia for almost two years because of my duties as a new Glaive. My first year consisted on Glaive training from open combat skills, weaponry, and magic. I started doing some easy clerical work at the HQ in Insomnia for a few months, up until I was finally called up by the commanders and deployed me with a number of experienced senior intel Glaives in secret to the enemy territory. One half of us were assigned to Gralea, the then-capital city of Niflheim. My small unit was deployed in Tenebrae, in a suburban city called Piztala, just some miles away from Tenebrae's capital city, Ulwaat. For the most of my Glaive career, I have lived in Tenebrae for almost four years with barely any contact with my family and friends back home in Lucis. Just some few months since I arrived home, events turned the tide with the announcement of the end of the centuries war with a peace treaty signing, along with its painful terms. The only term that wasn't painful there was to see the late Oracle and the late 114th king to be married.

It took me several years, ten years and counting, for me to recover all of my memories when our interim captain, Libertus Ostium, and other remaining Glaives found me and picked me up, finally taking me back home to Lestallum. The remaining surviving Glaives and I suffered partial amnesia after the downfall of the Crown City, and in my case, I only remembered my name, where I was from, the things I've learned since childhood, such as various self-defense arts my dad and brother taught me and the rest of the women in my family, but I couldn't remember what I was doing in Insomnia after that time, what my role was, and even wondered why some people continued to stare at me like I was some kind of a wanted person dead or alive. I recalled following a group of people marching out to the bridge leading to the West Gate border between Insomnia and Leide. I struggled then to remember anything about my participation during that fateful day that I ended up wandering out from the pack. I took several part-time jobs as a waitress at various Crow's Nest Diners throughout Duscae so I can earn some money for me to survive and get back home to Lestallum, to my family. Of course, when luck brought Libertus and other Glaives to me that day, I thought that I was finally home and free. It turns out that, because of the more grave conditions involving the daemons and that the days were reducing slowly, my little bustling cultural town of Lestallum had become a brand-new headquarters of all warriors from all nations of Eos, starting with my dad, brother, and their band of hunters, the remaining Glaives, remaining Crownsguard, and even former troopers from Altissia and the crumbling Niflheim Empire. My days as a part-time Crow's Nest waitress and part-time daemon bounty hunter ended then, and resumed my duties as a Glaive. Since then, I remained a Glaive for the next ten years until the Starscourge finally ended. So, in total, I have been a Glaive for about fifteen years.

My dad always taught me while growing up that things happen for a deeper reason, especially those that most people won't be able to understand why it happened in the first place. I was a curious, meddling child, asking both Mom and Dad questions about life in general. One of the questions that I asked was why daemons exist and why they hate humans? You know, those daemons attacking and biting humans and eventually become daemons themselves? Mom wouldn't know because she was focused more on keeping up the electrical power throughout Lucis outside Insomnia. Dad, and eventually brother Nero, would answer with words like "patience is virtue."

Every single morning, on my way out to school, starting from elementary till high school, I would always pass by the flying ebony and gold banner of Lucis hanging at the side of our apartment building. And when I do, I would stare at it for a few seconds, and then I would bow to it and greet it.

"Good morning, Lucis!"

It was my way of greeting the entire kingdom of Lucis a good morning, from everyone living throughout the kingdom up to the mighty king of Lucis, King Regis Lucis Caelum the 113th. Whew, that's a lot of kings! I started honoring and greeting the Lucian flag ever since I was a toddler, whenever my dad would be taking me to school before. He would always take a bow and say good morning to the flag, representing our kingdom and everyone living in that said kingdom. It became a childhood habit that bowing and greeting the flag a good morning had become natural to me.

At that time, not everything throughout the kingdom was clean and perfect. It may be a good morning to many of the lucky Lucians, but that wasn't always the case with others. I've heard many stories about prowling daemons and much more powerful daemons prancing around during night from my father and eventually my brother, both were hunters and work daily at the Meldacio Hunter HQ. On weekends, both Dad and Nero would come home from the Meldacio HQ to be with my mother, sister, and me, as one family. It was our only family time, especially on Sundays. And out of that weekend are a series of adventure stories of their hunting— hunting daemons, that is.

Ever since I was a little girl, my father would always teach my older siblings and me the meaning of responsibility, discipline, loyalty, and respect. With the insistence of my mother, a proud senior EXINERIS engineer, all three of us were also taught a variety of self-defense skills that most of the hunters use for their missions and escapades against the daemons. Dad said that the origins of the hunters stem all the way back to Lucian Royalty, and even their somewhat simple but very effective self-defense arts was also stemmed from the Those four things applied greatly in our lives, regardless of the paths we've chosen after we passed on the child stage. Dad also taught me to show respect and appreciation towards the flag of Lucis that's hanging on the side of our apartment building. Lestallum is one of the proudest cities to exist in Lucis, just a tad second after the Crown City. While the Crown City had the crystal, Lestallum had the meteorshards.

My brother, the first born of our family, already wanted to become a hunter just like Dad, and he was already dead set on the career path ever since he was little. My sister Tamzin was really well-versed with puzzles, math, and sciences, and it became obvious that she was going to follow Mom''s footsteps as an engineer at the EXINERIS power plant. Both my siblings already heard their calling, and have focused on those paths on their own.

But I, on the other hand, had none. Being the third and youngest of the three, I was stuck in the middle. But, with my brother being six years older and my sister being four years older than me, the only thing my parents encouraged me to do was to live as a normal, happy girl. However, throughout most of my childhood, I was a lot more curious than happy. I wanted to see how the world was like outside Lestallum, but because of the daemons and an overprotective hunter father and an overprotective hunter brother, I was not even allowed to leave town, even with adult supervision. The closest place that I've been to outside of Lestallum was the Meldacio Hunter HQ, when hunters were allowed to bring in their kids to their station. Boring.

As a girl, I lived a normal childhood, somewhat. My craving for knowing more about the world outside Lestallum didn't really introduce me to the concept of a social life. I preferred books over friends, sometimes I'd talk to myself as if I was in another land outside Lestallum. I didn't really care what other kids thought of me and my quirks, because in my world, I was the ruler and I make my own rules. I also dabbled in music, listening to all the local buskers and corner musicians throughout town, and even convinced my mom to buy me a guitar. I remember borrowing my dad's old record player and play those old records, using the oldies for me to learn how to play guitar. At Lestallum, everybody sang and danced. I was more of a singer than a dancer, singing praises to all the good, positive things in life. I even wrote a song about the Lucian flag hanging outside our apartment building, but I haven't really gotten around to fix the lyrics just yet.

And then, this random song that came to my mind one day. I wrote them down in a notebook and even remembered the tune in my head. The lyrics went something like this:

 _Let there be light throughout the world_

 _While there is darkness, too much of one side is bad_

 _If both are together, everything will be perfect_

 _And so I shall pray that opposites become one_

 _I_ _'m longing and I'm waiting for the sun to rise_

 _And all the stars and the moon bring shine from the dark sky_

 _We are waiting for you, we are waiting for you_

 _We are waiting for you, our King of Kings_

All of that, aside from the books and the guitar, ended on my tenth birthday. When I woke up in the morning the day after my birthday and walked on my way to school, I stopped by the black and gold flag of Lucis hanging by the side of our apartment building. And as usual, I would bow to the flag and say "Good morning, Lucis," just like before. But right after that greeting, I heard someone returning the greeting, with the words loud and clear:

"Good morning, Daughter of Lucis."

I turned to see who said that, as if I felt I was being mocked, and there he was. He showed up right behind me with those doe blue eyes and an innocent smile that would make you suspect that he was up to no good. I pretty much knew every single kid living in Lestallum, whether they were older or younger or that they attended a different school. But this particular kid who just appeared behind my back really stood out. No kid ever wears nothing but black in Lestallum. This kid looked like he was the grim reaper's son, but his personality was anything but.

This is what happens when you fail to make friends during your first ten years of your life. Out of the blue, someone whom you can only see will appear in your life, insisting that he is your very special friend, and as long as I continue to be happy and positive, he will always be there for me. He said to me that when I finally make new friends, he will disappear, but will continue to watch over me when that day arrives.

He looked a little younger than me, a lot shorter than me, maybe two years younger, but he appeared a lot smarter than I thought he was for his age. He had dark jet black hair that shaped like a droopy bowl, but he didn't look bad. He had deep blue eyes that always twinkled when he smiled. Just like the kids living in the Crown City, he always wore black. He wore a black hoodie, a black t-shirt, black knee-length shorts, and black canvas sneakers. Sometimes he would show up with a black cap or a black beanie. The only thing that wasn't black on him was his ankle socks. The white really complimented his black canvas sneakers. Regardless of the black color he was donning, he was fair-skinned and flawless like he never got hurt or was never touched by anything or anyone at all. When you looked at him, even in black, it looked like the sun always shone right upon him, as if he was being sent and watched over by the gods above.

The black color may be a symbol of the Kingdom of Lucis, but personally, I never liked the color black. It looked really dull, not fun, and whenever you see someone wearing black, it seems like he just rose up from the dead. Still, my dad would always warn me never to make fun of the color black or even look down upon it. He always reminded me that the black wasn't just a symbol of the kingdom, but it was also the signature color of the Lucian Royalty and its High Council. One time, I asked my father if it was possible for someone like me to actually meet the king or any members of the royal family. He said that anything is possible, but in this case, the easiest way to have an audience with the Lucian Royal Family was to live within the walls of Insomnia or slightly in the outskirts, like the province of Cavaugh or the area in Eastern Leide. As a curious little girl, that became one of my goals: have an audience with the king and the royal family, or maybe just any royal would do, even the young crown prince is more than enough. The reason for the audience? I don't know, just to hang out maybe?

Regardless of his habit of wearing everything black, or at least dark solid colors close to black, his personality doesn't quite match the black. He was just your average, normal brat who likes to bug and tease the big sister whenever she starts having a crush on some boy or something. But this kid, he just liked to bug me in general, from my homework to the chores that I had to do at home to even the other kids in school I end up hanging out with, even for group homework sessions. He was always cheerful and happy, but at the same time, he was irritating and annoying. Still, even if I was the only one who saw him, he really did become one very special friend.

One early morning, the next day after he appeared behind my back, this time, he appeared sitting down at the edge of my bed. I was going to say that he was waiting for me to wake up, but that wasn't the case. He was slapping my face and shaking my body several times, left and right, just to get my eyes open and fully wake up. It was time to get ready for school, he said. I asked him who he was and how he got in. The only thing he answered to me was:

"Name's Nyx. What am I doing here? Dunno. Ask that yourself."

I rolled my eyes whenever Nyx would answer me with some smart-ass answer such as that. He seemed to be having fun making me look bad, but at the same time, he also showed his care for me whenever the chips are down. Wherever I went from that day, he followed behind, tailing me like a little-lost puppy. I even asked my family about Nyx, and they just laughed at me because they don't see or know any kid named Nyx living in Lestallum. My brother Nero and my sister Tamzin swore that I was having some kind of a mental disorder because of my awkwardness, but Dad always looked at things on a positive light and said that Nyx may be my personal guardian angel. I even asked my teachers and some classmates when I arrived in school that day. No kid named Nyx here and there. One teacher told me that Nyx was a common boy's name in the areas near the Crown City. There were a lot of Nyxes living in the Crown City too, as well as the two neighboring provinces around it: Galahd and Cavaugh.

My father, a senior hunter working at the Meldacio Hunter HQ alongside Dave Auburnbrie, the field commander of the hunters, had plenty of connections with the authorities throughout Lucis, as every hunter should. The Hunters weren't just hunters, but they were outside Crown City paramilitary patrolmen, keeping humankind safe and protected from daemons appearing here and there. The Hunters also had to lay low against the Niff invaders, not because they were scared of them, but they don't want to lose sight on the daemons, as well as remaining loyal to the Lucian Royalty in secret, even after Insomnia's downfall. They did so many things in the name of Lucis, from researching its very rich and mysterious history to making contacts and deals with every city and region government. My father had friends in the Crown City Census Bureau and, as a favor to me, had them search for a little boy around the age of eight to twelve whose first name was Nyx. Unfortunately, the results were about some two hundred Crown City-born boys whose first name was Nyx. One of those two hundred-something Crown City, Galahd, and Cavaugh-born boys became my future Glaive training mentor, Nyx Ulric.

And before I continue, my imaginary friend Nyx is not Nyx Ulric. The _hero_ of the Kingsglaive was seven years older than me. It makes no sense to have an imaginary friend younger than me with the first name of Nyx that is based on a real person.

I mentioned to him, maybe I was being haunted by some poor deceased kid named Nyx. Dad thinks that there's no such thing as a friendly ghost at this period. The spirit would either be transformed into a daemon or the spirit would likely be trapped in another dimension, like through a mirror or something. Little Nyx was way too free and liberated to be a spirit, he said, so he concluded that this kid became a figment of my unexplainable imagination. Great, I thought. Just great.

Still, even during classes, Nyx was there, sitting right behind me. If I was the last person in the row, he would just lean against the wall, watching me from behind. Even during lunch, when I sat alone, he was there right in front of me. We talked many times, asked him who he really was but he wouldn't tell me. He kept on answering the same answer every time I would ask him about himself. His repeated answer was always "Your very special friend."

Whenever I go to the library, go to the groceries, even stop by the power plant to visit my mom or even get picked up by Tamzin, Nyx never left my side. When I did my homework and get stuck at a problem, he was there as my own personal tutor. Some few months later, Nyx even started appearing to me in different styles of clothes, like wearing a beanie or a cap. Still, he wore that dreary black color every single time. He still wouldn't tell me who he really was whenever I asked the question, but I did ask him about his favorite color of his clothes.

"I'm Lucian, just like you," Nyx answered me regarding the color black. "The color is the symbol of our kingdom, you know? Our national flag is black, almost everybody at the Crown City and its neighboring regions wore black, the symbol of authority and monarchy is also black. But I get that you don't wear black here at Lestallum because you're so far away from the Crown City."

"You still haven't told me where you're originally from, Nyx," I would counter his answers with more demands.

"I already told you and you still don't know how to think Briony. Ask yourself."

Right then, I gasped in shock. "Are you… dead?"

Nyx broke into laughter. "Girl, you mad? But eventually, I will be dead, just like you and everyone else." Of course, he had a point.

I still found myself scratching my head. "But… I don't get it." I began to think, asking myself like he said. I still didn't get the answer until he finally gave up playing mind games with me.

"Fine, fine, I give up. You really are hopeless, aren't you? You're way different when you're near my age compared to the Briony Pacem that I know."

"The _Briony_ that you know?"

Nyx shrugged his shoulders. "I'm a part of your future, Briony. That's what I mean."

"Er… excuse me? Part of my future? Are you like… my future son or something?"

Once again, Nyx laughed. "I'm way better looking than you, sister, hell no!"

I raised an eyebrow after he gave me another insult. "Okay, so you're not my future son. Maybe you're a future son of one of my friends?"

"Er… you _could_ say that. Yeah, sure."

"I guess you still won't tell me the name of your parents, huh?"

"Well, well," Nyx smirked. "Since I'm part of your future, I decided to come visit the past you. You're so gullible, you know? I can't believe that you became the person I've admired so much in my time."

I still didn't understand about him being from my future. I still know that no one else can see him except me, to the point that I was beginning to think that I was just imagining him standing there, talking to me, when all this time, I was talking to myself.

"Never mind, Briony, I'll wait till you get older, like way older, when you finally learn how to think."

"Are you making fun of me?" I raised an eyebrow with slight fury, making this kid Nyx laugh again.

"You know what, never mind," Nyx ended his laughter. To my surprise, he changed the tone of his voice. "When the right time comes, you're going to meet my parents. When that time comes, both my parents will also disappear… before I come to existence. I came to you now because it is your destiny to save their lives. Without them, I will not exist."

"Huh?" I blinked curiously, now scratching my head. "Who's your mom and dad? I thought I'm the one who made you exist?"

"You are," Nyx said. "But one day, when the time comes, I'll eventually disappear from your life, right when you make new friends."

I frowned, crossing my arms. "But what if I don't want you to disappear?"

"Hm, sadly, I don't know the answer to that. But, if you don't want me to disappear, then you shouldn't fail in saving my parents' lives in the coming future. That's all."

I sighed, burying my head in my homework notebook. Right then, I felt something warm touching my head that somehow made me feel comfortable. When I looked up, I noticed Nyx closer to me now, with his hand touching my head.

Wait, I thought to myself. If Nyx really was my imaginary friend, how come I can feel the warmth of his touch on my head? Slowly, I reached upward to hold his hand holding my head. I gasped when I felt his hand, soft, gentle, warm, real. I didn't understand how this is possible. If he were my imaginary friend, he would be a ghost and I wouldn't be able to feel him.

But I can feel his warmth. He was real. Nyx was real. And yet, no one except me can see him?

"You exist," I said to him. "You're real."

He smiled at me as if he felt relieved. "I'm real because of you. But I don't have much time."

"What do you mean?"

"My mom and dad… they both need to be saved. I'm already looking at you, and eventually the friends you will meet in the future, to go and save them. If you don't and fail… I won't be existing in your future."

Now my mind is completely perplexed. "But… if my future friends and I are going to save your mom and dad… how do we know who they are and… how do we save them? Come on, Nyx, we won't know until you tell me now?"

Nyx just shook his head. "It's too risky. I don't mean to offend you or anything, but… if I tell you who I really am, and if I tell you who my parents are, you and your friends might get killed."

At that time, I shook my head, indicating that Nyx only made my life worse. Or rather, he just made me a lot dumber than I already was. I ended up giving up and continued on living my usual life. Still, Nyx remained on my side.

When I first met my four new friends in the next year in sixth grade, Celestine Pryor, Lena Locklear, Cecil Britney, and Aaron Marshall, I thought that Nyx would finally disappear. It was awkward, the way we met. When you reach the age of eleven and the early years of adolescence, the early stages of puppy love begin at that time, for some kids anyway. It was an early morning with the usual habit of me greeting the Lucian flag a good morning. Nyx was standing right behind me, but he didn't say anything that there was an incoming clumsy person coming my way.

He let the accident happen when Aaron Marshall, my school's most popular boy in sixth grade, so I heard anyway, accidentally bumped on to me behind, letting me fall right flat on my face against the street. I glared at Nyx, laughing and pointing at me, but instead, Aaron helped me up and apologized for not keeping his eyes forward and bumping on my back that led me fall on the street. The two girls chasing after him from behind, Celestine Pryor and Lena Locklear, finally caught up to him, but did not squeal right away when they spotted some random girl their desired boy pushed on the ground for. And then from behind the girls was Aaron's best friend, the slightly stout Cecil Britney. Being an awkward kid that I was, I apologized for being on Aaron's way and ran off to the streets, right at the school gates.

Nyx still remained present in my life, so much that I was beginning to feel conscious of my reputation. Because of it, just to save my reputation, I decided not to reveal to my new friends about my so-called imaginary friend. After I ran out from them, later during recess, Aaron and Cecil caught up to me, inviting me to hang out with them. Those two boys became my very first friends. Some weeks later, Celestine and Lena decided to become friends with me, even though I knew deep inside that they were going to use me just so they can get closer to Aaron. Still, it was too early for me to pinpoint which one of these four will be the traitor, as Nyx declared, so I decided to ignore the thought for the time being.

At that time, I thought Nyx would finally disappear, now that I have made new friends. Even with Aaron, Cecil, Celestine, and Lena were with me now, Nyx was still hanging around as if he was the sixth person in our little circle. When alone, I asked Nyx how and why he still remained even though I met new friends for the first time.

"It's because these are the _wrong types_ of friends," he answered. "But eventually, you'll meet the right ones when you get older."

"What do you mean by the _wrong type_?"

Nyx walked around me with his fingers on his chin. "Well… um… how should I say this? I guess I wanted to say…"

"What?"

"You have four new friends now. I didn't mean that it's a bad idea to be friends with those four." He took the time to walk around my four new friends individually until he stopped right next to Lena. "But, I'll say this to you. Three of them become heroes, one of them becomes a traitor."

"Say what? Heroes and traitors of what, exactly?"

Nyx led out a deeper sigh. "Do you ever read the newspaper or even watch the news on TV? I mean, it's pretty embarrassing that you're an idiot with current affairs when your dad's a hunter and your mom's an EXINERIS technician. You know, the war!"

Right, I thought. Yes, I was aware of the war, but as a pre-adolescent kid with an almost non-existent social life, he couldn't blame me for not paying attention. Those words began to echo through my mind throughout middle school about my four friends. Three of them become heroes, and one becomes a traitor. Which one among Aaron, Cecil, Celestine, and Lena becomes a traitor? And if Nyx mentioned about the war between Lucis and Niflheim, then that must mean that whoever the traitor is among the four will be siding with the Niffs. Better cut ties with that friend now, I thought, but Nyx still refused to reveal names. Because I was still a naive moron, unable to read minds of other people, I pretty much ignored that thought.

High school came, and the latest buzz among the youth at that time are stories printed on newspaper and broadcast on the local news of the good, heroic deeds of the Kingsglaive. There was a general belief among the townsfolk that only those who live in the Crown City, or that those who are of the wealthy, noble class are the only ones who get to enlist in either the Crownsguard or the Kingsglaive. The former may be true, but when the news crews went on actual battle scenes to have short interviews with many Kingsglaive there, many of us became ecstatic that the majority of these powerful, elite Glaives happened to be native sons and daughters of Lucis. They all came from all over the place: Galahd, Cavaugh, Leide, Duscae, and I gleefully shouted with joy when I learned that many of these heroic Glaives were native-born Lestallians. While watching the news and reading the newspaper, Nyx, as always, was present.

One night before I went to bed, Nyx sat on the side of the bed while I was putting away my school books and getting ready for bed. At age fourteen and showing my excitement and enthusiasm about the news of the Glaives' heroic deeds and some victories against the Niffs, he blurted out from out of the blue to me:

"You should join the Glaives, Briony."

At first, I heard he was up to his usual jokes and teasing again when I said. "Do I look like Glaive material to you? I look cheap fighting the way hunters do compare to the way the Glaives fight. All those warping and surprise attacking and the wielding of different weapons from thin air? Just let me stay home and admire my new role models, alright?"

"I'm serious this time, Briony. You should join the Glaives. No joke."

"Didn't you hear what I said before? The whole warping and magic and—"

"Girl, don't matter. Just enlist… when you get older. You'd be surprised. Trust me on this one."

I was still suspicious of Nyx's suggestion of joining the Glaives after high school, but I didn't exactly reject it either. "Er, right. I'll… think about it."

As I got older, things changed, my mindset changed, my outlook in life changed, and yet, Nyx still remained. Not only that, Nyx never really got older, and just like from Day One, he still wore the dreaded black color on his clothes. In high school, all those four years, and even with homework and projects, Nyx still remained as my tutor of smarts. On my second year of high school, I finally revealed to my family about my interest in enlisting with the Glaives. At first, Dad was against it, but Mom kept reminding Dad that if women can run an entire region of Lucis outside Insomnia with that one single power plant in Lestallum, girls can also become Glaives. Nero and Tamzin liked the idea, that I finally found my path that can make a difference in our home. Not only that I will be serving Lestallum and my fellow Cleignians against the Niffs and the daemons, but I will be serving the entire kingdom of Lucis. Not just that, Nero also reminded me that I will be having a higher chance of winning an audience with King Regis or even his son, Crown Prince Noctis, if I do enlist as a Glaive. Dad was finally convinced and then decided to put me back into more training again.

And speaking of training, Nyx also started becoming my shadow sparring partner. I was quite surprised that the kid also knew how to fight. I still asked more questions about him, where he learned his self-defense arts. He still refused to talk about his real background, but he did say that one of his father's _bros_ trained him the formal way, while the sister of his father's _bro_ trained him the same hunter-style self-defense arts like I did. I asked him if his parents were hunters too after that.

"Um… my mom? Not really. She's way too nice. My dad? Oh hell yeah, one of the best hunters that ever lived, even though most hunters never really knew his name."

"Er, okay."

My brother even mentioned to me one time that my shadow duel training was impressive because it looked like I was actually sparring with another person. Little did he know that Nyx had been my sparring partner all this time, regardless of his young age. Alongside with the training in preparation of my upcoming Glaive enlisting, most likely after high school, both my dad and brother started taking me to a few of their bounty hunting quests over the weekend and experience how it's really like hunting a daemon.

Dad said to me one time, "A lot of the duties as a Glaive when you are out in the battlefield are eradicating daemons. The Niffs themselves aren't a problem, but the daemons they unleash on our lands is where the real problem is." That was why my hunter family decided to take me to simple bounty hunting quests so I can gain more experience.

Eventually, sometime halfway till the end of my second year of high school, I finally revealed to my four friends of my intention of joining the Glaives after high school graduation. None of them ever thought about the Glaives at all, as they all had their own personal goals right after high school. But they all had the same destination goal: Insomnia. To us _outside wall_ Lucians, Insomnia is the City of Dreams. All those bright lights, the hottest fashion trends, those stylish fast cars, the coolest gadgets such as a smartphone, those tall skyscrapers, those trendy foods that you see at the strip malls and even at the street corners, but most of all, sighing at the majestic towers of the Citadel. But of course, for us to get there, we need to have the right plans before we can jump in and proceed. Almost everyone in high school is shooting for Insomnia as their lifelong goal after school. We have a university campus here, but everyone is really aiming for the top university located in the Crown City. And of course, there are others like me, who wants to get into civil service by joining the Glaives.

Even though it may sound a little strange that I've listened to my imaginary friend Nyx instead of taking advice from someone in real life, I never regretted that decision. Now that I'm writing down this short memoir, I regretted nothing as a Glaive. I was proud and honored to have given my services for Lucis, even if I almost got killed doing them. I didn't regret meeting wonderful people among the Glaives, even though the majority of them are no longer here with us. Another thing that shocked about the things Nyx have advised me as a naive Lestallum teenager was that he was right on many things. Because of that, I was convinced then that this kid definitely did some time traveling somehow, and he was currently at that young age when he did it. But of all people, even I ask this today, why me? He could've chosen some random person, but why specifically me?

Eventually, the day finally arrived when Nyx was ready to disappear from my life. He did say that he will leave my life once I've met new friends. Apparently, he wasn't talking about my childhood friends, but the friends that I will eventually meet when I got older. I graduated with full honors back in high school, though I wasn't the Valedictorian. I earned two scholarships: one sponsored by the Meldacio Hunter HQ, known as the Auburnbrie Family Scholarship, awarded to children of retired, former, and current hunters. The other one was sponsored by EXINERIS Industries, called the Daughters of EXINERIS scholarship, awarded to daughters of retired, former, and current EXINERIS employees. I wrote a scholarship essay regarding my desire to join the Kingsglaive, and how I felt that I qualify, both physically and mentally, from training and learning from both my parents because one was a hunter and the other a senior EXINERIS engineer, and that both fields can really help me shape up to be a qualified candidate as a new Kingsglaive soldier.

"The time has almost come and I am running out of time," Nyx said to me when we got home from my graduation ceremony. "Anytime now and I'll be gone."

"Do you really have to leave?"

"I don't have a choice. I came to the past to meet you, because I had a dream that the real heroes who will save my parents would be you and the friends whom you'll eventually meet."

"You're still avoiding so many questions that I've asked you since I was a kid. I'm already eighteen, and I'm old enough to listen and understand, Nyx."

"The only thing that I could tell you about the consequences of my plea… if my parents die before I am born… all of Eos will see its destruction, and I'm not just talking about the Starscourge."

I opened my eyes in shock to hear his last few words then. "Starscourge? What are you talking about? What do you mean all of Eos will be destroyed if your parents die? I don't get all this! And another thing, why me?"

Even then, he still eluded all of my questions. Instead, he would reply to me with something else somewhat related to them, but not direct answers. "That's why I convinced you to aim for Kingsglaive. It's the only way for you and your friends to save my mom and dad. When the right times come, you'll see what I mean."

"Nyx, please… at least, give me some real answers so that I'll know how to act when the time comes."

"I'm sorry, Briony. I know I'm eluding you and all, but I also don't want you and your friends to die before you become heroes!"

One eyebrow raised at his last few words again. "Heroes? What heroes?"

"From where I come from, you and your friends are heroes. To me, you are all my heroes, so… maybe traveling back to this time frame was a mistake, but I don't know what else to do. I want to be sure that the same people lauded from my time frame really do become heroes. You just happen to be one of those names."

Even though I found myself completely confused than ever, he immediately changed the subject. "Let's not talk about me right now. Starting today, your true aim now is your enlisting to the Kingsglaive. I'll continue helping you shape up to be the perfect candidate, the _real deal_ Glaive, so don't worry."

A week later, the recruiters from the Kingsglaive traveled all the way here from the Crown City to find potential recruits to join their ranks. I remembered not feeling confident in myself when I noticed that many of those interested in enlisting in the Glaives were stockier, taller, and a lot more athletic than I was. Most of the Lestallum-based recruits were males, mainly because most of the females here were all dead set in becoming future EXINERIS technicians and engineers. They rather study the meteorshards than provide any civil service to the king and the rest of the kingdom. I don't blame them though.

When I got to the booth after waiting in a long line, one of the recruits gazed right at me. The other one, a female blonde with a strict stare right at me began to welcome me, offered and exchanged handshakes, and then the oral interviewing began.

"Alright, Miss Pacem. First of all, tell me more about yourself, your background, just anything."

"Well, I'm a native-born Lestallian, sad to say I've never been outside Lestallum before except for having work trips with my dad and brother to the Meldacio Hunter HQ…"

The other recruiter, a slightly older, balding official, joined in the quick interviewing. "Meldacio HQ? Your father is a hunter?"

"Yes, Sir. My father is one of the senior commanders under David Auburnbrie. My older brother is a hunter too."

"And your mother?"

"Senior engineer at the EXINERIS power plant. My sister is an intern technician for now."

"In a way, I could see why you are interested in joining the Glaives, Miss," the blonde recruiter made her assumption. "You can't decide between a hunter and a power plant engineer and that you have found a different path."

I led out a deep sigh and explained myself. "I'm interested in joining the Glaives because civil service for the king and kingdom became my calling. Besides, the daemons are becoming a nuisance to everyone around here, especially in Cleigne and Duscae and now we're having more problems with the Niffs barging in our territory more often than before. If I had a chance to become a Glaive, one of the things I'd like to do is to bust through these bases and blow them up!" Quickly, I cleared my throat after finding myself going out of control with my disappointment and changed the subject. "Anyway. I think I'm a qualified candidate to be a Glaive. I've been trained in various hunter-style self-defense arts by both my father and brother since childhood, but never really messed around with any form of magic."

"All Glaive recruits were not born or are naturally gifted with magic," the older recruiter said. "After you submit your application for review, and if you do pass, you will send a letter regarding your physical test. The physical test will also take place here in Lestallum with the senior Glaive officers. After the physical test and review, you will receive another letter about a week later, indicating if you are accepted in the battalion or not. If not, you have the option of waiting six more months for you to try again."

"With the grave situations that we're having with the Niffs and daemons even at the outskirts of the Crown City, we would need as many potential Glaives as we can enlisted, so we do hope that you do well through the enlisting process," the blonde Glaive officer said.

I was quite surprised with what I'm hearing from the recruits. My doubts of being looked down upon and not being noticed have disappeared. They actually saw me for who I was and not be judged with the way I look, such as my frailty and my diminutive height. After the quick interview, we shook hands and made my way out. Right behind me were my four other friends.

Aaron and Cecil originally planned to join the Glaives in the first place, just before I made my announcement that I'm interested in joining the Glaives back then. I never really knew what Celestine's and Lena's reasons why they decided to join the Glaives. Probably so they can follow Aaron around, just like back in middle school and even in high school. When I got home from the enlisting, I asked Nyx's evaluation of me, knowing that he was hanging around nearby while I was having my interview.

"You did well, Briony!"

I frowned at Nyx's compliment. "Dude, I looked like an idiot there."

"But the Glaives don't really care. They don't really care who you are as a person, they care more about what you can do for the Glaives, for the king, for all of Lucis. Your background in self-defense hunter style and your wits from your engineer mom's genes, you're going to make it in. I bet you."

"Well, if you say so, Nyx…"

Eventually, I received a letter a week later informing me that I got accepted to do their physical test. Two weeks after that, I went through my preliminary physical and mental tests. They wanted to be sure that my body was strong and capable enough to handle some powerful magic, which I eventually learned, derives from King Regis himself. That made me a lot more nervous because I never really wanted to mess around with magic, but I couldn't believe that using magic shared by the king himself is how these Glaives become so elite. The mental test just gave me a series of multiple choice questions regarding what I know about Lucis, what I know about what's going on in the kingdom right now, with the war against the Niffs and all. It also asked me to write an opinion essay regarding the impacts of my hometown and my home region by the centuries-old war between Lucis and Niflheim. I wrote everything that I felt and then submitted it to the testers.

One week after that period of prelims, I received a letter from Insomnia regarding my enlistment to the Kingsglaive. With flying colors, Mom said, I passed the preliminary physical and mental tests. My body and my mind combined were strong and sturdy enough to handle the coveted powers of the Lucian Kings. All new recruits had to move to Insomnia to start our training to become soldiers of the Kingsglaive.

Then, a month later, I packed my bags, joined the other lucky high school grads who got into the Glaives on one try. Aaron, Celestine, Lena, and Cecil did not pass the prelims on the first try, therefore they had to wait six more months to have that chance again. I was sad to leave them, and I felt it was a bit unfair that I got to go while they would have to stay put and wait.

Even at the bus traveling all the way to Insomnia, Nyx sat next to me. I found myself sitting alone at the back row because I wasn't really much in the mood for chatting and mingling with other Lestallum kids. The little boy in black stared at me, and then patting me on the shoulder. I still couldn't believe how real this kid was and he wasn't exactly a figment of my messed up imagination. I still don't have an explanation how a real person from the future can only be seen by one person and not by everyone else.

That night, upon arrival at the Kingsglaive Headquarters not too far from the Citadel, we were given our gear and our keys to our assigned dorms. I got a single bed dorm with no dorm mates. At least I wouldn't look too weird when I talk to Nyx from everyone else's eyes. I looked out my window and caught a majestic night view of the Citadel's united towers.

"The Citadel… wow… I can't believe that I'm actually here."

"Yeah," I heard Nyx whisper behind me. "Whenever I see the Citadel, it really makes me cry."

"Oh? Is it because it's the symbol of Insomnia?"

"Um, yeah! That's what it is. When I see the Citadel, I always longed for home."

"Maybe when I get on free times, you can show me around Insomnia, and maybe you can show me the place where you currently live too… in your time frame, I mean."

"I'm afraid… that isn't going to happen."

"Huh? How come? I've made it this far thanks to you. Why won't you show me around Insomnia?"

"Because… tonight… is my last night being here with you. I am leaving tomorrow."

Now that I'm on my own without anyone I know of in this lonely dorm, I cried several tears when he finally declared his farewell. The kid was annoying as hell but he was my only friend with me right now. And now, he was leaving.

"Sorry I didn't tell you sooner, Briony, but I wanted you to focus on getting into the Kingsglaive all this time and not get distracted by other things, such as me leaving."

"Nyx… why? I mean, you annoyed me big time throughout those years, but you've really become my… my very special friend… even though I'm a lot older and somewhat more mature now and you're still… that age."

He smiled at me, nodding, and said these words:

"You are now a Kingsglaive soldier, Briony. As a Glaive, sometime in the future, you will be meeting my parents. And when you do, you and the friends you will eventually meet as a Glaive will do all you can to protect and save them. When you do, I'll return to you, and only this time, all of your friends and loved ones will finally get to see me. Until then…"

"Nyx, I promise. I'll do my best as a Glaive and risk my life to protect your parents from any harm. That, we'll promise you."

"Then, no more crying, Briony. Seriously, you need to get over being too emotional, you know?"

I wiped my tears quickly with a piece of tissue at the side table. "Sorry if I cry a lot, Nyx. Maybe that part of me will never disappear."

"Glaives don't cry, not like this anyway. Now, you must look forward, Briony. I'll be waiting for you years from today."

"Nyx, don't go. Not yet. Please…"

I embraced him tightly, still with the unending tears from my eyes. Slowly and gradually, he faded like thin air and disappeared right in my arms. Still, he was right. No more crying and look forward to tomorrow and beyond.

Two weeks after I started my training, I was already assigned to two mentors. One of them, originally from Galahd, just happened to be one of the Kingsglaive's most respected and revered soldier that earned him the nickname of "hero." Coincidentally, his name was Ulric. First name, Nyx.

Thinking about little Nyx, I thought that Nyx Ulric must be his father. During my physical mentorship with him and his best friend, Libertus Ostium, I even teased to see if Nyx Ulric had a girlfriend, but he spoiled it when he revealed that he had none, because he prioritizes his duties as a Glaive, and serving the current king, King Regis, and all of Lucis was his priority. He even instilled to me that as a true Glaive, I should also have the same priorities as he does and not let any form of emotional connections with others get in the way. I can tell right away that Nyx Ulric has a sense of responsibility and that he aims to serve King Regis and all of Lucis as part of his and Libertus' fight to liberate their home province of Galahd from the Niffs.

Four years as a Glaive, fulfilling all of my assignments, missions, and battles, little by little, I began to lose the memory of little Nyx, as if he really left me on purpose for good. I mean, he already left from my eyes then, but lately, I was beginning to feel less of his presence and my mind was becoming blurry that even I'm forgetting the image of that black-clad, black-haired, blue-eyed kid. Next thing I knew, many moments and missions later, little Nyx ceased to existence in my life.

If only little Nyx would tell me who his parents were. I was so sure then that Nyx Ulric may possibly be little Nyx's father, because he also had dark hair and blue eyes and was also black-clad. Then again, all Glaives are black-clad anyway. Even I was also getting used to wearing a lot of black too, mainly my Glaive uniform. If it wasn't my training mentor and eventual squad leader, then who was little Nyx's mom and dad?

I no longer feel little Nyx's spirit lingering around me. However, deep within my heart, I will wait until little Nyx returns to my life once again. I didn't know what was coming in my future, and I never really knew who these friends little Nyx was mentioning to me about.

Even as of this writing, I'm still waiting for little Nyx to appear in my life again. Maybe some stranger, a couple, would just come up to me and recognize me, and then they'll introduce themselves as Nyx's parents.

So far, that hasn't happened yet.

* * *

 _ **Author's Notes:** It's been a long time _coming _, but I finally began to start my very first Final Fantasy XV fanfic. I waited for about a year since the game's release because of all the DLCs and other updates added to the canon story (especially Episode Ignis, which also provides us a "verse 2" ending). Throughout my years writing fanfics, I never really created an original character and then make him/her as the main character of any fanfic I've written in the past. However, thanks to the multiplayer Comrades DLC, I decided to take the opportunity to use my Glaive character (Briony Pacem) from Comrades and create a backstory and how she (and other surviving Kingsglaive - these soldiers deserve credit!) have made an impact on the new adventures of our beloved FFXV characters, which, of course, includes our four bros._

 _And yes, because of the_ DLCs _, if you are also a fan of the Assassin's Creed series, this story has a lot of nods to the AC lore (in particular, the Assassin's Festival DLC in FFXV). After all, both FFXV and Assassin's Creed Origins have special DLCs with each other, so why not a nod and play along?_

 _Also, I have to be very careful with this one, considering that there have been some anal, bitter gamers out there who have been complaining about the main story and some missing plot holes and inconsistencies, etc. But, this fanfic aims at fellow fans like myself without questioning the technicalities or even starting some random debates on why this isn't possible or possible, etc. We all have better things to do in our lives and debating and_ hating _aren't them._

 _Thank you very much for giving me the opportunity to share this series with you. Hope you enjoy. Comments are always welcome. Keep in mind that these are rough drafts and Grammarly can only help me as much with the grammar, spelling, and punctuation. Thank you again!_

 _This story, **From Girl to Glaive** , is a part of a series of fanfics that I'm working on called **Paeoniae Exercitu ad Regem Regum** (The Homecoming of the King of Kings). I think both Noct, Luna, and honorable Kingsglaive heroes such as Nyx Ulric and Crowe Altius deserve justice, so I'm writing this. It will take a long time because I'm anticipating of the upcoming new DLCs to be released in 2018, and there may be some changes in comparison to them. So, to "wait" for them until I complete those DLCs, **From Girl to Glaive** is merely a back story of my Comrades character (Briony), and it'll star our lovable three bros and young Talcott as well._

 _Hope you enjoy. Comments and suggestions and questions welcome._


	2. Chapter 2

**The Public Library of Lucis - Cleigne Branch**

 **Lestallum, Province of Cleigne**

 **Kingdom of Lucis**

 **M.E. 771** _(5 years after the end of the Starscourge)_

 _ **Briony Pacem**_ _\- 39, archivist at the Lestallum Public Library, former Kingsglaive_

 _ **Talcott Hester**_ _\- 22, University of Lucis graduate student, intern at the Lestallum Public Library, former Hunter_

 _ **Ignis Scientia**_ _\- 37, archives adviser at the Lestallum Public Library, former Kingsglaive, former Crownsguard_

 _ **Prompto Argentum**_ _\- 35, freelance photographer, Meteor Magazine photojournalist, former Kingsglaive, former Crownsguard_

 _ **Gladiolus Amicitia**_ _\- 38, current Kingsglaive officer, Crownsguard interim officer_

In today's early morning news, the civil unrest continues in the Crown City. Reports of looting local businesses in the downtown areas, innocent bystanders being victims of different people from these different factions just because they refused to get involved, and other types of atrocities have spread throughout the neighborhoods close to the Citadel. This time, demands from these same factions called out that the Crownsguard should open the Citadel to the public. But if you ask me, it's more like they're demanding for the Crownsguard to open the Citadel, not necessarily for the public, but specifically for them.

The still-current marshal of the Crownsguard (or rather the small remains), Cor Leonis, as well as his two close Crownsguard comrades in Monica Elshett and Dustin Ackers, have been leading the matters regarding the Citadel and keeping an eye on things throughout that part of the Crown City, providing some form of authority to keep the peace and order. Their interim _Citadel Recovery Infantry_ consists of both Glaives, Hunters, and remaining Crownsguard who survived, knowing that the majority of the Crownsguard lost their lives during the day Insomnia fell fifteen years ago. Ever since the end of the Starscourge, with the insistence of the royal retinue, the Citadel was locked and shut down, not allowing the public to enter, not even for a tour or a visit, just to pay respects to the one True King who have given his life to release us from the Long Night.

Sitting behind my office desk while watching TV at the corner of the ceiling across from me, I nibbled on my Pistachio Honey toast my mother made for me this morning and sipped on my favorite cup of Ebony coffee. Sometimes I wondered if my true love for my post-Glaive life was the history and documentation of the past events or the messy politics that had been happening in Insomnia ever since the Crownsguard bore the authority to take control of the Citadel. The reconstruction period of Lucis and all of Eos had been overseen by the big three, so we Glaives called them: the marshal of Crownsguard, my former other mentor Libertus Ostium the interim captain of the Kingsglaive, and the head honcho hunter himself, Dave Auburnbrie. These factions have been on war of debates and verbal exchanges, instilling their beliefs on how Lucis and the Citadel should be run, now that the Lucis Caelum line and the Lucian monarchy is no more. However, all of these factions are also have been at war against the Crownsguard, Kingsglaive, and Hunters altogether.

Ever since the final day of the Starscourge and light had been restored, as a Glaive then, I felt that my duties were incomplete. I wasn't the only one who felt that way. Libertus, the True King's own retinue in Ignis Scientia, Gladiolus Amicitia, and Prompto Argentum, and all the others who contributed also did not feel that their duties were completed. The Starscourge did not bring peace and prosperity among our people throughout Eos. It only brought back the light and eradicated all the daemons for good. Sadly, the end of the Starscourge did not rid of human greed and egoism.

The TV news finally brought up a new story. The second volume of the Hunters' compilation of stories and memoirs from a select number of people throughout Eos, namely Lucians, had been released in bookstores and book kiosks throughout the world, with Lucis being the first, of course. I already pre- ordered my copy a month before, and received the book yesterday afternoon. When I began reading it, I skipped my imaginary friend story and read the stories and memoirs of others instead. Maybe one day, the hunters who compiled all these stories in their anthology series would hold a reunion event, where all the people interviewed for the book will gather together and just mingle with each other.

I have been an archivist for the Lestallum Public Library (Long, more formal name: The Public Library of Lucis - Cleigne Branch, but locals and everyone else prefer calling it the Lestallum Library or the Lestallum Public Library) for some three years now. I started off my first six months as an associate of a senior archivist, a middle-aged man in his mid-50s named Ovid Smithers. He was originally from Altissia as a historian in their royal library there, but had to move to Lestallum when Eos was being overtaken by daemons. About a year after I paid my contributions to the reconstruction of Eos by working alongside my mom, my sister Tamzin, and all my fellow ladies at the EXINERIS power plant in providing electricity through the rest of Lucis (namely Insomnia and Galahd), I finally got hired as an archivist. My almost fifteen years of being a Glaive was the only requirement that Mr. Smithers' interest peaked, thinking I may have known more about the Lucian lore itself from personal experiences. Funny thing was, he did not look at me as a former soldier, but some clerical officer who worked with the paperwork for the Glaives. I advised him several times that all Glaives were required to be out in the battlefield, one way or the other, regardless of their primary assigned roles. He never saw me as the type to kill, but I had a long, extensive background of killing and murdering from daemons to MTs to enemy humans, namely Niff high officials.

About a year later, one of my former training partners within the Glaives ten years ago, a young, dashing, handsome, but brutally blinded former Crownsguard turned Glaive named Ignis Scientia, also sought employment at the Lestallum Library. I was quite surprised that he decided to settle here in Lestallum instead of going back home to the Crown City. He did not feel at peace by returning back home to the Crown City, he once mentioned to a number of us. He started getting used to staying in Lestallum, in and out, for the last ten years or so, plus he hoped that he would find his peace by living here. Many of the former Crown City folks also started living here permanently.

His two other friends and comrades, Gladiolus Amicitia and Prompto Argentum, also moved forward with their own paths. Gladio tried to continue to carry on the family tradition by being a vice marshal under Cor, even though he also elevated to a Glaive along with Ignis and Prompto. Gladio also married his fiancee a year after the Starscourge and recently, his wife gave birth to a daughter. His younger sister, Iris Amicitia, still works as a hunter and is one of the sub commanders of the Hunters now, reporting directly to Dave Auburnbrie and working alongside my father and my brother, both senior-ranked hunters. While Gladio and his family are currently living in the Crown City, Iris remained here in Lestallum. She said that moving back to the Crown City would only bring her so much pain, especially that she recently revealed to a few of us that she had been harboring feelings for our King of Kings since she was a little girl. Poor girl, I thought. The only thing I could say to her was to look forward, move on, and someone special will arrive in her life. Still, she remained single, but she was a lot different from the first time I met her. We all mature as we get older, after all.

Prompto, on the other hand, found employment at the newly re-established Meteor Publishing as a photojournalist, while also doing some freelance photography on his own. He also worked with the hunters in collecting and compiling interviews, memoirs, and stories for their ongoing anthology series, taking individual portraits of every individual being interviewed. He also started having photography exhibits for the public, but so far, his exhibits only took place in Lestallum. Like Ignis and Iris, he too did not want to return to the Crown City, even though he learned that his adopted parents were still alive and well and temporarily lived in Altissia after escaping Insomnia during the downfall. I didn't have to mention why. He shares an apartment with Ignis and old man Cid Sophiar and lives two doors away from my family apartment. Old Cid's granddaughter, the very pretty and smart Cindy Aurum, moved back to Hammerhead and became its new owner and manager. Every weekends, she would come and visit her Paw-Paw, as well as her old friends, like her mentor, best friend, and senior chairman of EXINERIS, Holly Teulle.

I laugh whenever I'd witness Prompto going on and on about getting himself ready and finding the right time to do all he can to win Cindy's heart. It wasn't much of a secret regarding his unrequited feelings for her. Even his bros and everyone else he met knew of his feelings for Cindy. Even the Chosen King himself used to tease him but also encouraged him to be brave, be himself, and be the one to get Cindy's attention in his own charming way. It's been five years since the end of Starscourge, and regardless of the mess that's going on in Insomnia right now, very soon, Prompto would have to step up and move. Or else, someone else may catch her eye instead.

My imaginary friend story was the second story in the newest volume of the anthology. When Prompto was taking my official portrait for the book months ago, he began asking questions about my imaginary friend. He told me that my description of little Nyx reminded him a lot of his childhood best friend, the Chosen King of Kings himself. I was thinking twice that maybe little Nyx was actually the late King Noctis Lucis Caelum CXIV, but after my brief meeting with him on the day… or night… that he awakened from his ten-year slumber at Angelgard, that possibility became impossible. He admitted to me and Libertus during our brief meeting with him back at Angelgard that the only Nyx person he knew in his life was Nyx Ulric, the same hero Glaive who drove him back and forth from the Citadel to his apartment a few days before that dreaded peace treaty signing with the Niffs.

From then on, the facts played in my mind. Little Nyx was not Nyx Ulric. Little Nyx was not King Noctis. Little Nyx had no relations to both Nyx Ulric and King Noctis. Who was Little Nyx then? Maybe Dad was right all this time. Maybe he really was just a figment of my strange imagination.

Not too long ago, Talcott Hester, former hunter now a graduate student from the Lestallum branch of the University of Lucis, joined us as an intern. He earned his Bachelor of Arts in History, and now he is working on his work-in-progress thesis about the Cosmogony for his Masters in Lucian Culture and Society. He is currently sharing an apartment with Iris, as she pretty much became his guardian ever since his grandfather was murdered by that bastard Niff general Caligo some fifteen years ago. I remembered seeing his ugly face during my time as an intel Glaive back at Tenebrae some seventeen or eighteen years ago. Arrogant, heartless bastard.

Right now, Mr. Smithers, Ignis, Talcott, and I are working on a huge project officially launched by the Insomnia main branch of the Public Library of Lucis system. Because the Starscourge has been long eradicated, we are now rewriting the Cosmogony and have it published on a new edition. After all, the Starscourge prophecy mentioned in the past Cosmogony edition did happen, so for future generations post-Starscourge, it was best to read the latest edition of the Cosmogony and learn some lessons from it.

I continued to watch the TV news, while I was supposed to read through the Cosmogony and take comparison notes. At that point, I heard the door knocking on my office door. I called out that the door was open.

Talcott Hester appeared at the door. "Morning, Briony. Sorry I'm late."

"Late? Nah, look at me. I'm distracted by what's happening in the TV news when I'm supposed to be reading and taking notes."

The young graduate student entered with his backpack, sitting down at the office table while taking out his laptop and a few of some books and papers. "Anything new on the news?"

"Not really. Same ol', same ol'."

Talcott sighed, shaking his head with his arms crossed. "What the hell is going on in the Crown City? I hope the Marshal, Libertus, and Dave are alright out there. I feel bad for the Crownsguard, Glaives, and Hunters who have been protecting the Citadel from intruders and looters, and now these factions are declaring war against them."

"The end of the Starscourge may have brought back the light, but it did not bring back peace and prosperity among us. Five years since the end of the Starscourge, even though I retired from being a Glaive, I still feel incomplete."

"If only King Noctis were here now and…" Just as Talcott was about to say his own statement, he trailed off and fell silent. "Um… never mind. You already know what I'm going to say."

"No worries, Talcott. I know what you're going to say."

I found myself slouching on my chair and slowly got up. I then noticed that Talcott arrived alone. "Hey, Ignis wasn't with you?"

"Prompto arrived early, so Ignis was just helping him out with his stuff. He'll be here late."

"Still working, that Ignis," I sighed. "Sometimes, he needs to chill out and rest, sometimes."

"There are a lot in his mind, even till today, Briony, so I don't blame him. He, Gladio, Prompto, Iris, everyone who fought in the name of our king during those ten years felt the same as you. I also feel the same way as you, as a former hunter myself."

"Incomplete."

Talcott then reached out for his new copy of the second volume of _Real Starscourge Tales from Real, Everyday Lucians_ anthology. He already had a bookmark on the first few pages. I assumed that he bookmarked my imaginary friend story in the book and wanted to discuss with it.

"You got some interesting story included in the anthology, Briony," Talcott led out a chuckle. "A little kid named Nyx, huh? Don't mind me, but I remember Prompto saying one time that the kid you described sounded a lot like King Noctis when he was that age. It was when he was taking your portrait photo for the anthology book."

"Was King Noctis a snot-nosed little brat who likes to insults people at random whenever he found the right time?" I crossed my arms and smirked at the thought, after remembering Prompto's comparison of my mischievious imaginary friend to the Chosen King. Really scary.

"Oh, I don't know about that," Talcott shrugged. "Ignis should know more about him as a kid than Prompto would. But, when I got to know the king better those years ago, he was more of a big bro to me than someone I would have to look up and bow to before I'm even allowed to speak to anyone of Royalty. Yeah… King Noctis was, as he said before one time, really chill like that."

"Chill, huh? Right," I muttered. Even though Ignis had been blind for over ten years now and has been considering going through special treatment to get his eyesight back, he still remained blind and walked around with his walking stick. And even though Ignis had been blind all this time, I still couldn't get the nerve to speak to him one-on-one. After all, looking back during my innocent Glaive days, when Celestine, Lena, and I met the four guys at random at a new coffee shop at Insomnia those fifteen years ago, Ignis was the only one who caught my eye. The other two girls were crushing on Gladio, but were also keeping an eye on that other awkward-looking kid hanging out with Prompto. Ugh, what was his name again? Maybe there were still some memories that I still need to recover. Oh boy.

"Anyway, both Ignis and Prompto are gonna arrive here a bit later, once Prompto's already settled in the apartment. Gladio and his family will be arriving later today to visit Iris. The marshal gave him a day off as things were getting a lot more dangerous in the Crown City with all of these civil factions at war with each other that it's not safe for a family with a young child to be there. At least, we'll be having a little reunion right after, you know?"

"Sounds great," I smiled happily. "Can't wait to meet Gladio's wife and their little baby."

"Proud dad that he is," Talcott laughed. "And Iris is being a proud auntie too."

"And you, a proud uncle," I nodded.

"I don't know about that, but maybe," Talcott nervously laughed at the thought. "Iris might come home late tonight. She has to go through a lot of rounds from small town to small town throughout Cleigne to do some errands for the people and immigrants there. Ravatogh has been booming so far, you know? We should take a vacation and visit the new Ravatogh town, Briony."

"Yeah, let's do that," I nodded with a grin. "Maybe we can have some hiking picnics at the Rock of Ravatogh too."

"We gotta let Iris and the hunters know about that. They always reminded the public to never go there without any official hunter escort."

"Dude, you're a hunter, or at least you used to be. But still, you count," I laughed.

"True, and you're a Glaive, retired or not. Wait, why are we worrying about daemons over there when the end of Starscourge finally got rid of them?"

"Not daemons. Local wildlife."

"Ah. You're right."

Once Talcott settled down with his things on the mini-table, he got up from his seat and making his way to the door. "I'll be at the restroom really quick. I'll be back."

I waved at the young graduate student. "No problem. See you later."

Just as Talcott made his exit to the restroom, the TV news continued on reporting the various incidents of violence on almost very corner of Insomnia. It was like the anarchy continued right after the daemons infested it. I reached for the window and opened it to let the sunshine and the morning breeze inside. When I opened, I looked downstairs to see the same band of buskers playing their new song at the street corner across from the library. When the TV news continued on at the back, I listened to the new song that this street corner band performed, with the usual folk stopping by or dropping a few donations so that they can continue on entertaining the familiar Lestallum morning.

 _Time is on my side, yes it is_

 _Time is on my side, yes it is_

 _Our hopes may be gone, but we won_ _'t give in_

 _Cause we all know_

 _That one special day_

 _You will be coming back, right back home_

Interesting lyrics, I thought. Sadly, I had to head back to reality and get back to work. I walked back to the desk and looked at my notes and do more comparisons with the current edition of the _Cosmogony_ and a few of its previous editions when the TV news shifted its focus to the factions warring with each other and against the combined forces of the Crownsguard, Kingsglaive, and Hunters for entry into the coveted Citadel. There were three mentioned that I didn't really much pay attention too.

The first one they introduced called themselves _Rem Publicam ex Lux et Tenebrae_ , The Republic of Light and Darkness. They were dubbed by the public as the Republican faction, or simply the Republic. Don't let the name fool you, they have nothing to do with the newly-liberated state of Tenebrae, the home of the former Oracle, Lady Lunafreya Nox Fleuret. The faction was formed by former staff of one or two of the high council delegates who perished at the bogus treaty signing day who believed that a republic, not monarchy, can make Lucis a lot stronger and more stable among people and government. Their faction leader was the former secretary of one of the high delegates, an almost middle-aged man named Odina Philo. Cor may know him from the past if he were really a staff member of one of the high delegates, but we haven't heard anything mentioned just yet. The Republic's beliefs are that the monarchy may act as a symbol of true Lucian tradition, but this republic, run by a president or a prime minister, would be the running the government itself. Their reasons for their demands to have the Citadel reopened was to find a new station for them to form the new government. Cor, Libertus, and Dave have very valid reasons why they wouldn't allow anyone inside the Citadel, but one should always stand out as the prior reason.

The last two kings of the Kingdom of Lucis were killed right inside their own throne room at the Citadel. Because of that, the throne room itself became a sacred chamber, some say it became a cursed chamber for possible future royalty, that no mortal should even dare enter. Gladio, Ignis, and Prompto also requested to keep those doors to the throne room closed and shut forever, never to be opened again. According to the three, when King Noctis made his farewell to them and entered the throne room alone to finally face the usurper, the doors to the throne room were closed shut, never to be opened again. Ignis proposed to both Gladio and Prompto then, right when the Long Night finally ended, that it was just way too painful for them to get inside the throne room and retrieve the body of their beloved friend. Even Prompto couldn't even look at the eyes of his childhood best friend, especially with him no longer alive. Gladio gave in to his friends' reasonings and mentioned that rather than opening the doors to the throne room, that it was better to leave it as is and revere it as some kind of a holy homage to centuries long line of the Lucis Caelum monarchs.

Hearing this from their voices truly gave many of us so much pain in our hearts. I remembered Talcott bursting into tears after hearing the news as a teenager, Iris breaking down as if she lost her lover, and all of the familiar faces we've seen, like Cindy, Old Man Cid, Cor, Dustin, Monica, even the surviving Glaives like Libertus and myself who still remained loyal to the Lucis Caelum monarchy and never turned their backs on them couldn't stop shedding our own tears. As Glaives trying to seek redemption of our fallen comrades who may have made many mistakes and sins in the past, especially the sin of treason and siding with the Niffs, by facing against Bahamut and proved our worth, we all felt that our calling was nothing more than a waste of time. How can we be fighting in the name of the Chosen King when that said King will be the one to die? Even with the king's own retinue, who also became Glaives themselves ten years later, we all felt sadness, pain, and most of all, failure.

In short, we failed. We failed to do our duties to protect our king. The king may have succeeded in eradicating the Starscourge, but not the way we expected. Not like that. There had to be other ways of ending it, I was sure of it. Even Ignis, who is usually the calm one among the three, also believed the same. Some Glaives and random people we've met reminded us that the past was the past and that we must look onward for a more positive light for our future. However, if you happen to be someone who got to know and have gotten close to the Chosen King, even if it was just for a few hours or even a day, it may take a very long time for us to get over it. Most especially with all the ridiculous chaos that's going on with these factions here and there trying to take over Lucis by seating themselves inside the Citadel. For those who joined these factions for a better future for Lucis, they're kidding themselves. Dishonoring the Citadel like that isn't just an insult to us who became close one way or the other to the Lucis Caelums, but it was also the insult to the entire Kingdom of Lucis.

The second faction dubs themselves as _Imperium Novum Lumen_ , The New Empire of Light. The public refused to call them as the empire because the first thing that would come in their mind are the Niffs, but instead, they jokingly dubbed them as the Imps. These are the ones who still want to continue the Lucian monarchy, but under the name of a new line. Not only that they want to restore the Lucian monarchy, but they also proposed to be the new world order like the former Niflheim, considering that the nation of Niflheim pretty much crumbled down by the ongoing daemon infestation, the Tenebraen monarchy also ended when both the Oracle and her older brother, Ravus Nox Fleuret, both killed by the same murderer, they thought that with this new monarchy line, that they will not restore order throughout Lucis, but also place order under their name throughout the entire Eos. If you think the Republic was crazy, these Imps are simply out of their minds. They forget that one law, according to the Cosmogony, must never be broken, or face judgment and punishment from the Six. The Six only have the right to choose the next king and will begin a brand-new royal family representing Lucis, but from the looks of it, there were no signs of that happening. The Imps couldn't help themselves but show impatience, defy the Six, and then declare themselves as the new monarchs of Lucis, and eventually, all of Eos. The Imps are lead by some aging guy who declared himself a member of a Lucian noble family, just like House Amicitia, in which Gladio and Iris belong to. His name is Peregrin Solace, the head of House Solace, and that he was a former mayor of Insomnia who also works along with the high council and with the monarchy. Gladio mentioned at one point that his father, the late high council delegate Clarus Amicitia, didn't really like the guy that much because he doesn't trust anybody who try to suck up to the king or even any of the members of the high council. Sounds fishy.

What kind of moron who would want to support a faction that's basically copying the former enemy without even doing their own research or even learn from the mistakes of the past? No way in hell that the Big Three are going to even give their times of day with these bozos. A Lucian Empire, yeah right. No thank you.

The last faction, in my opinion, is probably the most insane than the two. While the other two were leaning more towards the philosophies of Lucian politics, this particular faction leans more to a creepy version of a religious cult. They refer themselves as _Nox et Luna Unitatem_ , the Union of Night and Moon. When we read about them in the newspaper, the guys thought Prompto made the story up as a joke to lighten us up, but much to our shock, there really was such thing. What creeped us out with this faction is that, just like Lucian Royalty, they all wore black. That is, black robes, black veils, black cloaks, black suits, and they always carry white sashes with the emblem of a circle-shaped black night with the white moon and white stars on them. Whenever you see these people flock together, you'd think there was a funeral procession that was about to happen, and that they wished to have their dead blessed by displaying their bodies inside the Citadel. The latter may be a joke, but this cult really just appalled those who had the pleasure of meeting both King Noctis and the Oracle back in the day. Why? They have this really crazy belief that, even though the Cosmogony didn't exactly indicate that both the Chosen King and the Oracle have ascended together in the heavens after the eradication of the Starscourge, these people believed otherwise. They believed that both King Noctis and Lady Lunafreya have ascended together, not just in marriage, but to join the ranks of the Six and became gods themselves, more powerful together than the powers of Six and even the ancient kings of yore combined.

Creepy stuff, I tell you.

So, in short, these cultists worship King Noctis and Lady Lunafreya as gods. They believe that the perfect place where they will show their worship and appreciation of their gods is none other than the Citadel. They also wished authority over the new Lucian government, for there is no other human being who can become the new king or queen than that of their god, King Noctis. Their reasoning against the Big Three to have the Citadel opened so that they can convert it into a temple, build their own worship ground within the throne room, convert the entire world into believers, and become the seat of the new religious-affiliated Lucian government. A Lucis ruled by some clergy of wackos. That's even creepier than a Lucian empire or a Lucian republic.

The locals and the rest of the normal Lucians dubbed these crazies as simply the cult. We all love and respect King Noctis and Lady Lunafreya back in the days, but not like this. According to the guys, especially with Ignis, the king would not want to be remembered this way, but he wanted to be honored like the way we would honor our local heroes, like our Glaive hero Nyx Ulric, for example. Even I as a Glaive had a chance to meet, shake hands, and speak with King Noctis before he traveled back to Galdin Quay those years ago. He may have the aura of the true king, but he spoke like a fellow Lucian brother, like the way I would talk to my old friends, Aaron and Cecil. We were not just King and Glaive, we were both children of Lucis, sharing one blood. I felt that King Noctis was more of a sibling than the king that I have to pledge my allegiance and obedience to.

Cor, Libertus, and Dave warned us and a lot of the public to keep an eye out of this cult. These guys are more fanatical than the Imps, who want to create their own version of a Lucian Empire with a dead king and his dead queen consort as the spiritual rulers of this so-called new empire. The Republic may be the sanest of the three, but if you ask us Lestallians and non-Crown City Lucians? We don't trust any one of these three. The Republic and the Imps assured that our own beliefs as individual Lucians are that of our own, and that we have the right to choose whatever path we may take. But this fanatic cult insist that we should not follow any other king but that of King Noctis and his beloved Queen Lunafreya.

Their cult leader's name was Aleron Vertumnus, also known to the cultists as Father Aleron. According to the Lucian citizen records, this Aleron Vertumnus guy was a Lucian historian who was born and raised in Tenebrae, and had attended a university here in Insomnia. It was from there that he became fascinated with the history of Lucis and its strong connections to the gods as mentioned in the Cosmogony. He got so obsessed with the Cosmogony and whatever ancient records he could find throughout Insomnia that he started to have these delusional beliefs that the Lucis Caelum line may not just be a line of kings blessed by the gods, but they may also possess blood and genes of the pure gods themselves. According to him, it was the purpose of the True King to truly rule all of Eos, starting with his home of Lucis, and that he, along with his queen Lunafreya, will ascend together up the heavens and rule over the world, and that he believed that he was chosen and blessed by the spirits of both that he must spread their wisdom and philosophy to the public so that they may live pure and fulfilling daily lives. Prompto joked that if this belief was true, then one godly law that all believers must follow was that vegetable consumption is forbidden. However, just hearing about this cult did not suit Ignis very well.

I found my head about to explode with all the news about these three deranged factions and their equally deranged faction leaders. Just who the hell do these guys think they are, storming around the Crown City and demanding for the gates to the Citadel be opened? That is why I feel bad for retiring from the Glaives sometimes, seeing Libertus, Cor, and Dave struggle to get all their troops and hunters to maintain order while protecting the Citadel all at once. However, I became fascinated with the work that Ignis and Talcott began with the ancient records regarding Lucis and the rest of Eos that I decided to join them. Well, a very minor reason why I joined was to get a little closer to the handsome blind man himself, but I will not delve deeper to that.

I heard the door knock on my office door. I looked through the window to see one of the librarians, the mocha-skinned, delicate-faced young lady in her late twenties named Temperance March, waving right at me. I signaled her that the door is open. She opened the door and greeted me with her usual smile.

"You look worn out, Briony," Tempie, as the entire library staff called her, smiled. "Bad morning?"

"Nah," I shook my head. "More faction crap on the TV news."

Tempie gazed at the TV and shook her head. "I don't even remember how long this has been going on. Two years now? Whatever happened with restoring peace and prosperity among the nations of Eos?"

"All of a sudden, people of random beliefs now want to take over the world because the Niffs can't take it over anymore."

"I swear," Tempie sighed, shaking her head. "Sometimes life was a lot easier and more peaceful with the daemons around than having these damn fools hanging around the Citadel. Then again, I was around thirteen or fourteen when Insomnia fell. Never really had a chance to visit the Crown City. Man, the City of Dreams, the City that never sleeps… I'll never get to see it ever, not with those creeps killing each other to see who gets to take over Lucis, seriously. I wanted to join the Glaives too."

"If only our Chosen King still remained alive today, you could've been a Glaive yourself too, Tempie," I cheered her up a bit.

"But that's the thing. No king, no adventurous life as a Glaive for me. No fair." The dark-skinned young lady pouted. Seconds later, she changed her tone. "By the way, Briony, I came by because you got a visitor outside looking for you."

I raised my eyebrow in suspicion. "Hm, I don't have any scheduled appointments with people today except for the usual people."

"Well, Talcott is talking to this old man at the moment. Said he's got something to donate to the library but he wanted to see you about them first."

"Hm, I wonder what he's going to donate?"

"Apparently, a bunch of old notebooks, he said. But never really asked what was in them. Said it was top secret or something."

"Right, right." I leaned back on my desk chair, sighing. "Send him in."

"Good luck, Briony."

"Thanks, Tempie." Tempie waved again and approached the lobby. I stared out the window to watch Tempie approaching both Talcott and the old man. From the gestures, I could see Talcott insisting to Tempie that he will escort the man himself. I quickly turned my head away from the window and pretended to go back to my notes.

I shook my head after skimming through a few passages throughout the Cosmogony chapters. "Man, oh man. I swear, a lot of these passages seemed so cryptic. This is a modern age where everyone wants direct answers instead of them figuring out answers to a bunch of badly-written riddles. Plus, even this modern version of the Cosmogony seems so incomplete. Everything here is incomplete!"

By the time I led out a sigh, I sat back on my seat, trying to clear my head from all these inconsistencies and missing answers not indicated in the previous and current revised editions of the Cosmogony. I prayed that this elderly donor would donate something fascinating and that has nothing to do with this horrendous holy book. I remembered dreading Lucian history as one of my least favorite subjects back in school, but thanks to my imaginary friend little Nyx, I started picking up the Cosmogony during middle school. I used to worship the book and I used to believe in everything that was said there. However, some of my views towards the book changed when I became a Glaive and eventually sent out to enemy territory in Tenebrae, and learned that there were a lot more to this world than what was written in the Cosmogony. From there, that's when my curiosity peaked, and even after fifteen years, I finally got a job suitable for this field that did not involve any violence or committing acts of war against another life… or a man-made being, thanks to those pesky Niff MTs.

I heard the door knocking. That must be Talcott and the guest donor. I waved to the door and signaled that it's open. Talcott opened the door, letting himself and the elderly donor enter, with the student intern closing the door behind him. The donor looked about in his late 80s or 90s, slightly hunched back, only supporting himself with a cane. He was balding, wearing small specs, and with a mix of dark and olive complexion. Judging from the way he spoke, he was obviously Lucian, but none of us can determine what part of Lucis this man originated from.

"Welcome to the Lestallum Public Library, Sir. Please, come in." I invited the elderly visitor to his seat, with Talcott slowly helping him get there.

The donor sat down at one of the seats facing me, with Talcott sitting on the other seat across from the donor. "Thank you for giving me some time to speak with you."

Before I began, I asked the donor quickly. "Is this a private matter about what you're about to donate? Don't worry about Mr. Hester here, he's an intern working for me."

"Yes, alright." The old man nodded and reached for his black briefcase. Opening it slowly, he revealed out a box with a rope tied around it. There was a note on top that was handwritten in faded ink: _Cosmogony Drafts - collected and compiled. Please store in a safe place and pass it on to the most trusted._

"I am the last descendant of a family of publishers for the Lucian Throne, Miss," the old man began, pushing the box directly right at me. "Five years and this world hasn't received the peace, prosperity, and happiness it deserved. The Starscourge may be gone but the gods still continue to curse us for our sins."

I gave a frown while staring at the faded note. "Sir, you are donating this to the library?"

The old man nodded. "Please, open it, Miss…"

"Pacem. Briony Pacem."

"Ah, yes. Of course. I was told that you and a few of your library colleagues here are participating in the upcoming publication of the newest edition of the Cosmogony, now that the Starscourge has finally ended."

I cleared my throat to keep myself from getting nervous. Normally, the senior archivist, Ovid Smithers, would be dealing with these types of matters. However, he is currently on a week-long trip to Insomnia to attend some conventions at the Insomnia Library that he placed me in charge. My initial thought was to ask the donor to return in two days, knowing Mr. Smithers will be back here. However, when I mentioned that, the old man shook his head.

"The voices have spoken to me in my dream. It has to be you and your colleagues."

Somehow, this situation seemed so familiar to me. I never really asked to be the go-to person of anything, and yet, here I am again. "Sir, voices?"

"Yes. Voices… of the spirits of my ancestors." Once again, he pushed the box closer to my direction. Talcott stared at me with concern in his eyes.

"Briony, just take a look at it. I feel like the donor has his own reasons why he's turning to you instead of waiting for Mr. Smithers to return."

"Fine. Alright." I placed my fingers on the tied rope and slowly untied it, still staring at the faded handwriting on the top of the box. "I've read _Cosmogony Drafts_ on the note. What does this mean, Sir?"

"I have waited too long for this moment, and it was a mistake," the old man sighed. "I should have done this several years ago, but travels to Insomnia had been too dangerous in those days. I originally wanted to pass this on to our late great King Regis, or even his even greater son in King Noctis, but I was too afraid of the daemons on the way."

I don't really blame him. Most civilians back in those years were afraid of leaving home, not even to visit some of their favorite distant places, because of all these daemons skulking around here and there were not making our streets safe. The prominent presence of the Niffs and their MTs only made things worse for all Lucian citizens.

"It's not your fault, Sir. Everyone was scared unless they had some proper escort from the hunters. I've seen way too many who suffered back in my days." And I was not joking when I mentioned. I have seen way too many incidents regarding humanity and the daemons, all the way from Tenebrae till here.

We both sighed, trying not to think about the past. My eyes returned to the package again, this time with my fingers ready to remove the ribbon. At the same time, I could see the tension appearing on his expression, which made me a lot curious about the donor. I couldn't say that he was ill, but just to make sure.

"Are you alright, Sir? Would you like some water?"

The donor quickly shook his head. "No, Miss. I'm alright. I'm just… well… nervous."

"Nervous? About what?"

He closed his eyes. "Others… there are others… who are after these manuscripts…"

"Others? Who?"

"Just promise me, please, keep these notebooks safe. No other outside party should get their hands on them, I beg of you."

I hushed the donor while staring at the office window, making sure that his voice wasn't loud enough for anyone outside to hear. "Sir, please calm down. I… I'm not going to ask why you seem so desperate in handing these notebooks to us, but please, calm down."

After a few minutes, the old man caught up with his breath. He seemed to be healthy for his age. It wasn't like he was suffering from some respiratory disease such as asthma or lung cancer, however, his constant sweating and his shivering were worrying me. He might get a heart attack right inside my office. Once he finally calmed down, I opened my notebook, ready to take notes about the donor hismelf.

"Sir, I didn't get your name, so that I can give you the proper credit for this donation, once we get the new edition of the Cosmogony published."

The elderly man shook his head. "Who I am is not important. However, I am donating this very piece of history that has been kept within my family for centuries. I believe that maybe the words handwritten in there may help Lucis find the solution on what our nation will become after the Starscourge. Please, open it."

I didn't ask any more questions and I began to untie the ribbon rip open the paper bag that wrapped the box. Out revealed a wooden box, perfectly sealed with a complicated-looking lock. The elderly man proceeded to remove the lock by entering a certain combination number, which I decided not to look. Out came a stack of three leather-bound and faded in time notebooks, sepia-toned high quality paper that still lasted all this time, and the ink used to write on it was still quite legible.

"These are the original manuscripts to the first edition of the _Cosmogony_. Very well-preseved, I must say."

Talcott proceeded to take one of the notebooks, while I stared at the second and third. What a donation, I thought. This can truly help us write the most complete latest edition of the Cosmogony post- Starscourge. Because these are original manuscripts, there was bound to be some details there that were not included in the published versions of the Cosmogony. There had to be.

"No way," Talcott whispered after opening the first notebook and skimming through the first two pages. "Briony, this is the real deal. The words written here are exactly the same as the published editions, just judging from the first few pages. There are also liner notes and dates too. Two thousand-something years ago!"

I gazed up at the donor. "How on earth were you able to get a hold of these notebooks, Sir?"

"My father's side of the family comes from a line of book publishers, all the way from the founding of Lucis," the old man answered. "I am the last in line, and because I can see that my time is very close to its end, it was time for me to hand over these manuscripts to the most trusted ones who can keep and preserve this for many more generations to come."

"That's just amazing," Talcott gasped. "So, your line published the very first edition of the Cosmogony those 2000 years ago?"

"My ancestor, the founder of our book publishing business, was officially commissioned by the Founder King himself to publish many publications, from official documents, letters, individual accounts, biographies, and other forms of documentation depicting many histories of our kingdom an their line, meant to be published for the Lucian Government and the library system. We are also responsible for publishing many biographies and autobiographical accounts of every member of the Lucis Caelum line, even till today: kings, queens, consorts, princes, princesses, even those related to the Lucis Caelum line who were not officially royal, you name it. No one really knew of my family in public because the Lucis Caelums wanted to keep our publishing tradition, business, and the reputation a secret. After all the wars we've been through with Niflheim, I could see why."

I remained quiet, yet at the same time, both Talcott and I were very intrigued with the notebooks. I still wanted to give him the stage to continue with his words. "It was my fault. Entirely my fault. I promised my late father that I should hand-deliver this to King Regis years ago when he and his retinue were out of the Crown City, fighting alongside our mighty military against the imperialists. He said it was very important to ensure permanent peace and order throughout Eos, especially here in Lucis. My own cowardly fear against the daemons have gotten the best of me. And now, it is too late. His Majesty King Regis is gone, even his more powerful son and heir, King Noctis, is also gone. We have no king to bring back our peace and prosperity to Lucis again. Bringing back the light and bringing back the peace is not the same!"

Talcott looked up from the first notebook and gazed right at the donor and myself. I turned to the donor. "There is one thing we'd like to know, Sir. If these manuscripts were meant to be seen only by the Lucian royalty, shouldn't you be donating this to the Insomnia branch of the Lucian library system? Why here at Lestallum?"

Talcott nodded in agreement with my question. The donor answered. "It is bad enough that we are having civil unrest going on in the Crown City today. Now there are rumors that the remnants of the Niflheim Empire and even that of Accordo are also interested in the royal seat of Lucis. I am afraid of what may happen next if the original _Cosmogony_ notebooks fall into the wrong hands because of these factions. If we are speaking of review and analysis of the _Cosmogony_ , it has to be a fellow Lucian scholar with expertise in the field of our great country's history and legacy. No one knows who is working at the Insomnia Public Library right now. Our forefathers have founded and published the _Cosmogony_. Our forefathers founded the true nature of Eos. We Lucians are the closest in connection to the Holy Astrals. No power-hungry Lucian or any foreigner must have their hands on these notebooks."

"The Cosmogony Drafts," Talcott murmured, "by Lucian founders and scholars for true, loyal Lucians."

The young intern and I placed the notebooks back and closed the box, as the old man began writing the combination lock number on a piece of paper. "Yes. Your supervisor, from what I was told, isn't even Lucian. Smithers, you say?"

"Well, he's originally from Altissia but he moved here just a few moments before the long night," I mentioned to the donor regarding our senior archivist. "He's gotten himself used to the culture here, mainly Lestallum. It may not be as glorious or as classy or as wealthy as Altissia, but it's still a homely town for everyone."

"If you could keep this a secret until further notice, it would be of great benefit for the future of Lucis. I am no politician myself, but what I have seen through those notebooks have become very crucial, especially at this period of time. As you said: Lucian artifacts established by Lucian founders and scholars, only to be presented to true, loyal Lucians."

"Crucial? What do you mean?"

"You see… if you… make comparisons to the other editions of the _Cosmogony_ that you possess in this library, starting with the very first edition from those same two thousand years ago… well, you need to see it for yourself."

"Comparisons…" I made a note to myself to do this brand-new study back at home instead of here in the library. If this were supposed to be a top secret donation, then I have to keep this man's word for it. He did not mention anything about bringing this up to Mr. Smithers, meaning that we would have to keep this project a secret from him as well. I wanted to ask more questions, but it looks like the donor was in a hurry to leave.

"Sir, how would I be able to contact you if I have any questions?"

The old man shook his head. "No need for you to ask questions. I have already told you everything I know. The answers that you have will all lie in these notebooks."

I nodded. "Alright then. Thank you very much."

We adjourned the meeting, as the old man had other errands to do, but he also made a promise that he will visit again when needed. I also handed him my direct line, should he need to contact me on the phone. It was the easiest way of contact for him, as he knew very little of the advanced technology that Insomnia finally contributed throughout all the provinces of Lucis including Cleigne. I showed him all the way to the office door, greeting him a bye. Once he exited the door, I spotted Tempie already making short conversations with the Ignis and Prompto, who recently arrived. To my surprise, their third man, Gladiolus Amicitia, was also present. I thought he and his family were arriving later this afternoon? Guess Gladio decided to travel earlier than we thought.

Tempie excused herself to escort the donor to the exit, while Talcott exited the office door and waved at the three. Prompto saluted at the young intern, informing Ignis and Gladio that my office was finally free. The three men approached slowly at the offices behind the library counter, with Ignis wrapping an arm around Gladio's for guidance.

"Sorry we got here late, Gladio arrived early," Prompto greeted us with his usual sunshine smile. "I see you two had a visitor!"

"Guys," Talcott answered, "you're not gonna believe what Briony and I just witnessed now with that visitor."

"Yeah? Something more interesting than seeing those psychos at the Crown City on the TV news?" Gladio made his usual, familiar style of commenting.

"Hah, way better than those psychos at the Crown City on the TV news, Gladio!" Talcott laughed.

"Let's hear it then," Gladio snickered, as the three entered the office. I closed the door behind them, as we all took a seat at the office table.

"Good seeing you three together," I greeted the three. Talcott cleared off his things to one corner so the three can have more space around the table if needed.

"You guys want anything? Coffee, tea, water?" Talcott offered refreshments for the three.

"Nah, I'm good," Gladio nodded.

"Same here, Talcott. Thanks though!" Prompto answered.

"Talcott, you know what I want," Ignis smiled, knowing his young colleague very well.

"Black or with cream, Ignis?" Talcott went on with the questions?

"Black with honey."

"Ebony Black with Honey it is." Talcott grinned, leaving Prompto and Gladio snickering while he headed to the library break room to get Ignis' usual morning perk.

"That's one thing that ain't gonna change in Iggy," Gladio smirked. "You and your Ebony."

"Oh yeah. You and your Ebony." Prompto grinned, slowly nudging me on the side.

"Hey, what was that for?"

"Did you have an Ebony earlier today?"

I lowered my head, hiding my blushing from the boys. "Saxham Roast-style…" I muttered the type of coffee that I had earlier this morning. "Come on, Prompto, it's just coffee."

"It's just coffee, she says. Uh-huh," Gladio snickered. I tried not to make any embarrassing sounds so that Ignis would not suspect.

"As always, you two would never understand good company over a deliciously enticing cup of Ebony," Ignis made his own comment, still in his usual stern voice. "After all these years, you two continue to make your own ignorant remarks about me and Ebony."

"Hey, we didn't say anything bad about Ebony, Iggy," Prompto defended while he refrained himself from giggling along with Gladio. "I mean, Ebony's cool, the coffee shops are cool, two people destined to meet over an Ebony are cool, something something you know!"

"Hey, guys, quit it, stop with the coffee jokes," I glared at the two, even though I know that wasn't going to stop the two guys from the implied teasing. Still, I couldn't help but blush at the sight of the dashingly handsome blind man. The heartbreaking part of it all is that he would never be able to see me or any of his friends.

"Aww, look at Miss Pacem blushing like a blushing bride." I heard Gladio continuing on with the teasing. I'm not going to deny that I'm blushing in embarrassment right now. "Seriously, Iggy, just head back to Crown City and get major treatment with those eyes on yours so you can get your eyesight back. You're missing out on the beauties of life today, especially the one sitting right across from you—-"

"Gladio!" I exclaimed in surprise, doing all I can to hush him up.

"Hmph. I shall give no comment on that remark, Gladio," Ignis frowned. "Are you two done with the teasing and the coffee jokes?"

Prompto made his own statement with a little teasing sigh. "After all these years, Iggy, you still don't get the picture. You and Noct are really close to being the same because you're both naive with a lot of stuff, it really scares me."

"Now, listen here, Prompto, don't you dare compare me to…" Just as Ignis was about to mention the nickname of our beloved lost king, he lowered his head and then led out a sigh. "I… even today, I can't even say his name."

"Ignis…" I frowned in sadness, and without even realizing it, I reached my hand towards his. Even I was feeling heartbroken just hearing that name. Right then, everything fell silent among us. The teasing finally stopped, with both Prompto and Gladio lowering their heads as well.

"Thank you, Briony…" Much to my hidden surprise, he placed his other hand on mine. I shouldn't be blushing and let my heart beat rapidly because the man I've been secretly pining for all these years was touching my hand.

At this awkward silence, Talcott arrived with a cup of Ebony coffee the way Ignis requested it. "Huh… why so quiet, guys?" He placed the coffee in front of Ignis, then guided one of his hands to the cup holder.

"Ah, my Ebony is here," Ignis whispered, feeling the handle of the cup with his thumb and pointer finger. "Thank you, Talcott."

"No problem." The solemn silence ended immediately when Talcott took his seat. "Hey guys, why so silent?"

"Er… we just got surprised because you arrived," Prompto fibbed with his teeth grinding.

"You guys got surprised because I arrived with the coffee?" Talcott gently scratched his temple. "Uh, okay… sure."

"Right," I officially refocused our minds to the mysterious donation that the elderly donor gave us earlier today. "So, our small appointment with the visitor earlier today…"

"Yes, of course," Ignis nodded. "Who was that mysterious donor that Temperance was mentioning to us earlier, Briony?"

"We're about to get to that part," I reminded Ignis. I placed the box of notebooks at the table and opened it using the combination lock that the donor provided me. Talcott handed three pairs of gloves to the three men, as to protect their hands from contaminating the well-preserved manuscript notebooks of the Cosmogony.

"The hell are those?" Gladio stared at the notebooks. "They look too damn old alright, reeks damn old too, much older-looking than the rest of Lucis outside the Crown City."

"The original manuscripts to the Cosmogony, guys," Talcott declared then.

"What? The manuscripts of the Cosmogony? Seriously!" Prompto exclaimed in shock. "I gotta take a picture of these notebooks!"

"Don't get too excited yet, Prompto," I warned him. "Talcott already confirmed the validity of these notebooks. They're not fake or man-made to make it look authentic, guys. The faded handwritten passages here matched the passages of the first few pages of the modern editions of the Cosmogony."

"Well drat," Ignis deeply sighed. "Now I am considering your suggestion earlier, Gladio."

"Yeah? What about, Iggy?"

"About returning to the Crown City to have treatment for my eyes."

"Told ya," Gladio grinned.

"So that I may be able to look at these manuscripts myself, Gladio," Ignis gave a stern reminder to Gladio of his previous statement. "Never have I thought of the day I would be hearing of a set of original manuscripts to the holy book itself."

"Then, that means, those notebooks are really valuable then! If they're put on auction, all of the powerful people of Eos are going to kill each other for the highest gil for those notebooks!" Prompto made his own statement, rubbing his chin. "Can you imagine that?"

"Well, obviously we're not going to put it up on auction," I reminded the blonde photographer. "But, the donor said to us that the valuable part of these notebooks is not of their ages, but the contents that were originally intended to be published. According to him, there were some parts in these notebooks that were omitted from the published editions, and we're about to find out what those omitted passages are."

"Also," Talcott added, "if the donor did say that his family, a family of book publishers officially commissioned by the Lucian royalty and government, then those omitted passages must have been under the authority of the Founder King and its descendant kings and queens overseeing these published editions."

"But why now?" Ignis gently rubbed his chin. "Why would that mysterious donor suddenly donate these notebooks today, when he could've done it several years ago?"

"Starscourge, remember," I reminded Ignis. "The donor, like every single Eos citizen, was afraid to come outside of his own home, even with escort from the hunters."

"Of course. Understandable. Very well then, if you all don't mind, please read the passages from the notebooks so that I may hear the contents myself."

"I'll read them for you, Ignis," Talcott volunteered, which Ignis thanked him.

"I heard about you guys involved in this huge project with the Insomnia Library about publishing another edition of the Cosmogony," Gladio began. "Well, it kinda makes sense since the whole Starscourge crap finally ended."

"I wonder," Prompto scratched his head, "what if that donor geezer wanted us to publish everything from that original manuscript that wasn't included in the previous editions of the Cosmogony?"

"If that was the case, how's that gonna help us and all the shit that's been happening at the Crown City right now?" Gladio crossed his arms.

"Maybe, Gladio," Talcott answered, "whatever we may find here, we may find a good solution that would finally end these faction wars at the Crown City. Personally, I don't want any of those three factions taking over the entire Eos starting with Lucis."

"Desecrating the Citadel with their own selfish desires is the same as wishing for their own painful deaths from the gods," Ignis made his own statement with the situation. "I sure do hope the Marshal and Libertus and Dave, along with their remaining Crownsguard, Glaives, and Hunters are faring well more or less with all these civil unrest going on over there."

"We've got a few Glaives and Hunters injured because of all the mess out there," Gladio informed us of the bad news. "No one's killed yet, and we're gonna make sure it stays that way."

"Hell, better make sure the Citadel remains locked up, man," Prompto frowned with his complaint. "Those jerks don't realize that so many people died in there, including… well… you all know already!"

"Ain't gotta tell me twice, Prompto," Gladio crossed his arms. "But, even though I'm in a higher position now, still can't screw around with the Marshal's orders, plus the Missus had been complaining about me not spending time with her and the little one because of all the ruckus. So, I guess, you could say, this is our time to spend for the rest of the day."

"Rest of the day, Gladio?" Ignis joined in. "Why? Are you going somewhere tomorrow?"

Gladio sighed. "Going back to the Crown City. The Missus is already pissed but this is all for hers and our little one's good, you know? At least here in Lestallum, everything's back to normal compared to the Crown City."

"Yup, good ol' Lestallum," I smiled with pride for the town I was born and raised in.

Gladio went on. "The Marshal ain't gonna like it when I show up again tomorrow but the crap that's been happening over there ain't gonna get much better. We could use some help but we can't be grabbin' every single hunter and retired Glaive from all over Lucis and drag them over to the Crown City." He turned his head right at Talcott. "Can't ask the both of you to come out of retirement because you got this huge Cosmogony project going on."

"If you ask me, Gladio, we can halt the project and join you guys in maintaining order at the Crown City. Besides, haven't been back there in awhile now." The young intern glanced right at me. "How about you Briony?"

I haven't really thought of the idea myself. "Mr. Smithers would be a little difficult to convince otherwise."

"Oh. Right." Talcott frowned at the thought. "Mr. Smithers, the anti-war pacifist. Can't forget how hesitant he was to hire you and me as part of his staff in the beginning."

"Smithers, huh?" Gladio raised an eyebrow. "If he's some kind of an anti-war pacifist then you both best be careful around him. It's bad enough everyone's gone political after the Starscourge and so far, Lucis is in damn chaos. Light has returned but the peace still ain't back. The hell was that all about? It's like Noct's final act was a complete waste."

"Hm," I began to rub my chin after hearing the latter statement from Gladio. "The king's final act was a complete waste, huh… I wonder."

"Huh? What's up, Briony?" I heard Prompto's curiosity.

I reached for the notebooks again and opened the second notebook. "The donor who gave us these notebooks sounded really desperate. He kept on going on and on about how it's all his fault that he didn't deliver these notebooks right away and on time. Originally, King Regis was the recipient to these notebooks, but out of his cowardice and safety from the lingering daemons all over Lucis, he wasn't able to give these notebooks to him in no time."

"He never thought about Noct?" Prompto crossed his arms. "I mean, where was he then when we were hiding away from the Niffs before?"

"There was no way the donor would be able to find us, even with him alone," Ignis made his statement. "We were in hiding, he was also in hiding. We all refuse to show ourselves in the open because we were all hiding. Quite unfortunate."

Talcott reached for the second notebook in my hand. "Can I see the second notebook, Briony?"

"Knock yourself out, kid." I handed him the notebook as he began to do his usual analysis, magnifying glass at hand. Prompto and Gladio were also doing their own curious skimming through the first notebook, gloves and magnifying glasses and all.

Prompto even asked permission if he could take a few photos of the manuscript. "You're not gonna make prints or publish those shots in public, are you?" I glared right at the photographer.

"Relax, lady, this is for my personal collection, ya know?"

"Personal collection, right." Gladio raised an eyebrow at him. Glad I wasn't the only one suspicious.

"Anything suspicious or questionable between the comparisons, Talcott?" I heard Ignis asking his questions. After all, it wasn't as if the manuscripts also had a Braille edition so Ignis can touch-read it himself.

"Mostly paraphrases of some original yet wordy passages, Ignis," Talcott answered. "Otherwise, the majority of the contents on these notebooks are all in the published editions."

"Well, drat," Ignis led out a sigh. "I wonder what it is that the donor is worried about with those notebooks? You mean there was nothing significant, Talcott? Are you sure?"

"So far," Talcott continued with the pages, "nothing significant that would…" Just as he was about to continue, he stopped at a particular page, making us turn our eyes right at him. "Hold it, wait a minute."

"You found something, Talcott?" Gladio asked curiously.

Talcott placed his magnifying glass in front of him as he slowly read what he just spotted. "This passage here has been crossed out, but not completely erased. Let me read what I can."

"Alright, let's hear it," I said.

"Okay here goes." Talcott began to read what he can make underneath the strikethrough lines.

"' _Should an omen foreseen are not on the side of the kings, it can be remedied through the power of time control…'_ "

"What?" Ignis gasped, slowly slapping his hand onto the table. "The power of time control?"

"Let me finish, Ignis," Talcott insisted and continued.

"' _Only a few kings have the power to alter and manipulate time, but only can be used once. These few kings also must consult, in any way they can, one of the twenty-four messengers without the need to…'_ Hm, hold on, can't really make this one. I'll get back to that later." He continued on and skipped whatever word he could not read. "Something… something… ' _… Six. The Chosen King isn't just chosen by the Six to end the Starscourge, but the Chosen King is also chosen as the true ruler, not just all of Eos, but also over the gods…'_ "

We all gazed at one another with surprise. Knowing that King Noctis was chosen to be this Chosen King, we were appalled of his authority over Eos and even over the gods. Then again this was an omitted passage written on the notebook and was never published in the published editions of the Cosmogony from its first publication till the current one.

"Man, what a trip!" Prompto exclaimed, nudging both Gladio and Ignis. "Imagine that Noct is still here with us. He doesn't just rule over Lucis, but all over Eos and even over the gods? That means, even the Six will end up answering to him when desperate times call for desperate measures, right?"

"Imagine that, Prompto…" Gladio sighed sadly, knowing that we currently live on the side of reality.

"Few kings… meaning not all kings are born with the power of time alteration and manipulation," Ignis rubbed his chin. "None of us, not even the top expert scholars throughout the Crown City know of this fact. The power to alter and manipulate time…"

"From the looks of the omitted passage, this power of time can only be used once, and it will only work if something foreseen, probably like a prediction on what the future may look like, does not fall in the favor of kings," Talcott made his own analysis. "There's more underneath the strikethrough lines.'"

"Continue please, Talcott."

"'… _The powers and authority of the Chosen King will become purely divine and all powerful over all good and evil, as long as the Oracle is right by his side… No darkness or usurper shall match that of the rule and authority of the Chosen King… Those who oppose shall face eternal death…'_ something… something…"

Talcott realized that he just reached the last page of the notebook. He began to scratch his head and flipped back on the previous pages. Quickly, he grabbed the current edition of the Cosmogony and flipped through the last few pages. We gazed at him doing his quick work, back and forth, until he ended up closing both the second notebook and the Cosmogony itself.

"Three notebooks, right?"

"Found something fishy, Talcott?" Prompto asked out of interest.

"Yeah," Talcott stared at us looking perplexed. "The omitted passages came right after the last few passages of the published Cosmogony. The second notebook marks the second half of the published Cosmogony… but why are there three notebooks?"

Quickly, I opened the box again and took out the third notebook. "Don't tell me whatever's in the third notebook are all omitted!"

"Hurry up and read it," I heard Gladio's demanding voice. Carefully, I opened the cover and saw the title in huge, old world calligraphy-style text, right on top of the pages. It read…

" _Pei-on-ay exer-see-tu ad re-gem re-gum_ ," I read the title with an obvious bad pronunciation.

" _Pai-yo-ni-ay e-xer-chi-tu ad re-jem re-goom_ ," Ignis, the more educated one compared to the rest of us in the office, corrected me with the pronunciation of the headline, written as _Paeoniae Exercitu ad Regem Regum_. "Interesting title. It's translated as _The Homecoming of the King of Kings_."

"The subtitle underneath is read _'Stories and Tall Tales from the Five Provinces of Lucis_ '. It was dated approximately 2000 years ago as well," I continued. "It looks like this is some kind of an anthology of some sort." I flipped the title page over to see yet another note handwritten around the same time. It looked like a sidenote from the book publisher. "There's a note here."

"What'd it say?" Prompto asked.

"I'm about to read it right now, Prompto." I cleared my throat and read it aloud.

"' _We received official documentation from the King himself to not include these compiled collection of tall tales and local stories from the provinces outside the Crown City. The reasoning on the documentation made no sense to us, only indicating that including these collected stories in the first published edition of the Cosmogony may be deemed too dangerous. This is for the safety and security of all Lucian people, and it was best to not include these stories in the Cosmogony. If you ask me, I have seen a common theme within these collected stories, and they were talking about the prophesied Homecoming of the King of Kings. Even though we_ _'ve done all we can to convince the high council that including these tall tales in the Cosmogony is very important, as they also signify the rich and pure culture of Lucis, including them was still deemed dangerous. There was no evidence of proof that these tall tales are real in the first place, and we all thought that it was fine to include them, however, the high council insisted to not include them. It was either they have concerns about the well-being of all Lucians or that the royal family must be hiding something from the public. Even so, these collection of stories will not be discarded and will remain in this notebook. One day, future generations may read them, and reconsider including them in the next editions of the Cosmogony.'_ "

"Documentation, huh? Sounds fishy if you think about it," Gladio made his statement. "I think it'd be more believable if the king himself, whoever he was back then, was the one who told these folks verbally not to publish these tall tales."

Prompto gasped and quickly opened his eyes right at the rest of us, once he realized the translation of the Latin title. "Does… does that mean, there is a way to… you know…"

"Prompto, if only this can be possible," Ignis led out a sigh. "But I do seem to recall that toying with necromancy is against Lucian Royal Law and the Order of the Gods."

"Lucian Royal Law? Order of the Gods? You mad, bro?" Prompto gasped, glaring at Ignis' statement. "Dude, in case you've forgotten, we got no king, we got no oracle, all the high council members are dead, we got no law and order going on at the Crown City, the gods pretty much abandoned us to kill ourselves after Noct, we're pretty much under anarchy right now!"

"I don't think Prompto's talking about necromancy, Ignis," Talcott defended the photographer. "I think he was connecting the omitted passages from the last pages of the second notebook and whatever it is that's written in the third notebook. From the looks of things, necromancy and time alteration and manipulation are two different things."

"Oh, I don't know about that." In a flash, I recalled a past memory back from some five years ago when both my late childhood friend Cecil, as well as Libertus, mentioned about spending their days on duty right inside the Citadel and having their eyes right at the king. "My late friend Cecil and even Libertus once said that they witnessed the king… well, King Regis… communicating with the dead."

"Oh? How so?" Prompto scratched his head.

"Of course," Ignis led out a soft sight. "The crystal and the Ring of the Lucii… why didn't I think of that?"

"That's a form of necromancy, Ignis," Talcott raised up a fact. Of course, I thought. "Unless you meant…"

"I meant, the form of necromancy in which we, for example, would follow whatever's written on those notebooks and then attempt to rise the deceased back to life," Ignis finally clarified his statement. "Communicating with the dead is one thing. Bringing back the deceased to the living is another. The latter is what I'm referring to as something that's against the laws and orders of both the Lucii and the gods themselves."

"Yikes!" Prompto gulped nervously. "That sounds scary right there, I'd seriously creep out… but guys, we're talking about Noct here… maybe Lunafreya included too! I mean, both! We can save them, bring them back to life! And when we bring them back to life, we can finally restore peace and prosperity throughout Eos and we won't have to be dealing with these psycho factions that are screwing around the Crown City right now!"

"Let us not be hasty, Prompto," Ignis continued on with the warning. "We don't exactly know what's written in that third notebook until we start reading and analyzing them. And, the words _tall tales_ are giving me doubts of these possibilities."

"So, what the hell are we waiting for? Let's crack it and read the damn third notebook!" Gladio exclaimed.

"Alright, here goes." I was about to read the first page when we heard someone's smartphone ringing its standard ringtone. "Well… right after someone answers their smartphone right now."

Everyone around the table reached for their phones, only to see Gladio's phone blazing with the vibration and the ringtone at the same time. "Sorry, my bad. I gotta take this. I'll be back." He stood up and exited the office, answering the phone. Rather than moving on ahead without the big guy, we decided to wait.

"Around this time," Ignis led out a sigh. "I know I said we shouldn't be hasty, but now my curiosity has apparently risen up to the roof."

"Ha!" Prompto smirked. "I knew you'd be so curious as much as we are! I can see it from your eyes!"

"Prompto, you can't even see my eyes," Ignis lowered his tone, referring to his blindness. Talcott refrained himself from chuckling when Gladio returned with an unsatisfied expression on his face. "Dude, Gladio, is it the Marshal?"

"Nope, it's the Missus," Gladio placed his smartphone back into his pocket. "I gotta head back to the apartment and keep them company. Iris is heading out in one of her hunting missions."

"Aw, that's too bad," Prompto sighed. "But, that's how it is when you're a new dad now, huh?"

"Heh, yeah," Gladio smirked. "Gotta spend less time with the bros… and sister…" He mentioned the latter right when he glanced right at me.

"Not to mention spending less time working with the Marshal regarding the Crown City," Talcott gave a shrugging expression.

"That too. Anyway, can y'all save that third notebook thing later or something when I'm finally free?"

"We might spend some time at Briony's family home," Ignis indicated. "That is, if Briony doesn't mind."

"Oh no, you're welcome anytime," I smiled. "My parents get excited when I bring in visitors, since I'm the only one among my siblings who's still single, you know?"

"Yup," Talcott nodded. "They get more excited when Ignis comes over for a visit."

"Really, now?" Prompto snickered. I had a feeling that little fact was going to be brought up eventually. "Briony's parents get really happy when good ol' Iggy comes by and visit? Now this I gotta see!"

"Come now, Prompto, it's no big deal," Ignis sighed while I shrugged my shoulders.

"My mother has a crush on Ignis, I'm afraid." Prompto and Talcott gave themselves their own chuckles with Gladio grinning along with them. I decided to change the subject, seeing Ignis looking very annoyed right now. "Alright, guys, stop it already. Tonight, my place. You guys might as well sleep over too."

"Hm, good idea," Talcott nodded in agreement. "I mean, I'm sharing the apartment with Iris and with Gladio's family being there, I think there'll be a lot more breathing room if I sleep over your place, Briony."

"I'm coming with you, Talcott," Gladio immediately insisted.

"Wouldn't your wife get mad?" The intern curiously asked.

"Nah, give the ladies some girl's night. Iris will take care of her and the little one."

"Whatever you say, Gladio."

Prompto gave a thumbs up. "Yeah, why not? Not like it's the first time I've slept in your place. Your mom makes the best zu skewers! Noct would be digging some of them skewers once he tastes them, you know?"

I led out a chuckle. "I'm pretty sure the king would enjoy those skewers, Prompto. I'll be sure to let Mom know to make some of those skewers for dinner. You better let Old Man Cid know so he doesn't get lonely."

"Cindy will be arriving later tonight at Lestallum to visit her grandfather and Holly," Ignis indicated. Once in awhile, Cindy would stop by Lestallum when she had the chance to visit her Paw-Paw and Cindy's bosom buddy, current senior manager of EXINERIS, Holly Teulle. "I don't think Cid would be up with the idea knowing that two men near her age are sleeping under the same roof as her."

Prompto led out a frown. "Now you tell me that Cindy's coming over, Iggy? You always spoil the surprise sometimes, you know?"

"You'll be seeing a lot of Cindy tomorrow, Prompto, I can assure you."

"Meh. Fine."

Right then, Gladio made his own exit. Prompto insisted he'd escort him along but Gladio also insisted that he had been to Lestallum several times that he's already memorized the map of the entire town. With the former king's shield making his way out, Prompto remained in the office with Ignis, Talcott and me. I reminded him that he can take plenty of pictures of the notebooks later when we get to my place. After all, with the new modernization of the Crown City finally reaching the rest of the country, the Lestallum Public Library already has security cameras installed throughout the building now, including my office.

Just as we were about to get back to work, I heard the door knock on my office. Tempie sneaked her head in to see us with her usual perky smile. "You guys busy? I hope I'm not interrupting anything important."

"Nah, come on in." I invited her inside, as Tempie waved at the three guys. "What's up?"

"Well, I'm already taking down orders for today's lunch. Tonya and myself are gonna get out to Tostwell Grill for our lunch boxes. Here's the menu, and let us know what you guys want. We're heading off in about an hour." Tempie handed the paper menu to us, where Prompto and Talcott began to choose their lunch for today.

"Thanks for ordering lunch for us, Tempie," I thanked her right away.

"Another thing too. Smithers is arriving home in some fifteen to twenty minutes from today too."

Right then, I displayed a panicking face, remembering what the donor mentioned earlier. We can use the first two notebooks as references to the Cosmogony project, but the third notebook is what we want to hide from him. "Thanks for reminding us, Tempie."

"No problem." Right then, Ignis, Prompto, and Talcott picked their choice from the menu as she wrote them down, while I indicated that I wanted the skewers lunch combo. As she wrote our choices on her notebook, she continued on. "Anyway, Smithers was sounding really weird today when he called earlier. He sounded really desperate and that he's worked up with something. He was mumbling about something to do with doing some traveling and excavating to the Crown City and stuff."

All four of us present stared at her with suspicion in our minds. Ignis began asking questions. "Traveling and excavating in the Crown City? What on earth would he be excavating?"

Tempie crossed her arms. "I have no idea, Ignis, but it sounds like he… or somebody tipped him off… of some really strange entrance to some sewer system just before the border bridge leading to the Crown City from Leide. Said something about that the sewers system has an ancient map or something in which one or a few of the sewer pathways lead towards the Citadel or something—"

"Say what?" Prompto stood up, with Talcott hushing the photographer down.

"So, he tells you but he hasn't even called any one of us?" Talcott frowned at the statement.

"I guess he'll tell you all about it when he gets here. Anyway, thanks for all your orders!"

"Thank you for informing us of this, Temperance," Ignis thanked the young librarian. Among us in this group, only the ever-so-formal Ignis Scientia would only call her by her full name.

Prompto gave a thumbs up. "Say Tempie, I'll join you ladies on picking up the orders."

The dark-skinned young librarian smiled. "You serious, Prompto? We could use some company, you know? Got some interesting shots you got in mind?"

"Maybe. I haven't been taking that many shots of modern Lestallum life as of late, plus I need to soak up the warmth of the sun anyway." Right then, he gave a wink towards Talcott and me, with us still wondering why he was winking at us for.

"Awrighty. We'll let you know when we're about to head off, alright?" Looks like Prompto will have a bit of a lunch date with two library staffers to Tostwell Grill. Once Tempie left the office, Prompto closed the door behind her and turned right at us.

"Give me the third notebook once I leave," Prompto made his suggestion.

"Wait, wait, hold on, bro," I raised my voice with suspicion. "Why the hell do you want that notebook for?"

"Something's fishy with that Smithers guy. Hell, I barely knew the guy but Ignis has suspicions about him too! I dunno, I don't trust him with the third notebook laying around."

"It's risky but you may have a point there, Prompto," Ignis agreed with his longtime friend. "Just keep the third notebook with you in your backpack and no one will suspect you hiding something, at least not here in Lestallum. As long as you don't plan on leaving town."

"Dude, of course not, Iggy," Prompto frowned. "I'll be kickin' it with the ladies, maybe stop by your apartment to say hello to Cindy and Paw-Paw, maybe stop by Iris' apartment to say what's up with Gladio and family, goin' around town taking pictures of everyday Lucian life in the second biggest city of all Lucis, you know?"

"We trust you, Prompto," Talcott grinned, patting his older friend on the shoulder. "It's just like old times, where we would risk everything that we've got for him, so protecting the third notebook would be something of service to him, you know?"

"Yeah, you got that right, kid!" Prompto and Talcott exchanged hi-fives, as I gently placed the third notebook back in its box and locked it using the combination lock. I handed the box to Prompto as he placed it right inside his backpack.

"Thanks, Briony. Say, I brought some old pictures from some twenty years ago with me. Maybe when we have time tonight at your place, I can show them to you."

"Old pictures, you say?" Ignis' voice raised with interest. "Ah, now I seriously need to set up an appointment with the doctor at the Crown City regarding my eyes…"

"Yeah man, you better," Prompto frowned. "I'm sure you always loved my shots, especially the ones with us in it."

"Absolutely."

"I also got the prints developed from Noct's camera too."

I gasped right when I heard the latter. "The King took photos also?"

"Yup. He borrowed one of my cameras, so technically the camera wasn't his, but I barely used that model anymore so I just let him borrow it. He also used his smartphone to take photos too. I was able to get those shots developed too. They're all in here." He patted on his backpack. Now the photos have gotten me a lot more curious.

"Ah yes," Ignis smiled. "He was quite the photographer. His part-time job at that camera store with you did give him some benefits after all. I wish I could say the same with his other part-time job at that restaurant…"

"Hey, no sweat, at least he's able to adapt to different kinds of food and not just royalty food, you know?"

"That sounds so cool! I can't wait to see King Noctis' pictures!" Talcott cheered in excitement.

"Then it's a plan." Prompto began packing some of his things and made sure that the third notebook was tight and secure in his backpack. Right then, we hear Tempie's voice from outside greeting the person we decided to be careful with. "Looks like Smithers is here. That's my cue."

"See you tonight then, Prompto," I waved at him, with Ignis patting his old friend on the shoulder.

"Keep your eyes and ears open while you're out there, Prompto."

"Roger." He saluted at us, as he made his way outside.

While we continued to stare at Prompto leaving, and eventually meeting up with Tempie and Tonya, one of the clerks in the library in her late forties, we also witnessed Ovid Smithers, the senior archivist and also mine and Talcott's boss, already approaching the offices area. He hasn't reached out for my office door just yet, but eventually we will.

"Remember to keep cool and mind your mentioning of the omitted content of the Cosmogony," we heard Ignis warning us. We nodded in agreement, with Talcott reminding Ignis that he and I will have our eyes towards our current work, so that it would appear to Smithers that we're still continuing on working hard for the upcoming new version of the holy book.

Just as we predicted, Ovid Smithers came to the door, knocking. Talcott stood up from his seat and opened the door. "Mr. Smithers, welcome back. How was the commute?" The young intern invited Smithers in my office, with Ignis and myself greeting him in return.

"Terrible, Talcott. Even the passengers in the bus were getting a lot more political than before," Smithers muttered, as he leaned himself against my empty desk. "All the chaos that's going on in Insomnia is pretty much chaos throughout this country."

"How are things at the Insomnia Library?"

The senior archivist shook his head. "I do not understand Lucian thought and policy regarding their ancient artifacts and documents. The way they handle things there is not the same as the way we handle these same things back in Altissia. I made my proposal in clearing out the opening of the old sewers system outside the West Gate to the capital, however, the scholars over there are hesitant to enter or even considering obtaining permission from that marshal. After all, the Citadel has been completely shut down for the last five years. This country believes that the ancient royal family are still ruling it in spirit and have to pray to them for permission."

I noticed Ignis' facial expression seeming like Smithers was insulting the entire Lucis Caelum line and how things are being handled at the Crown City right now. He remained silent since the supervisor opened his mouth. Knowing him for almost over fifteen years now, he was the type to think twice first before he speaks up about something out of impulse.

"Have you actually checked out the sewers yourself, Mr. Smithers?" Talcott curiously asked. "How do you know that these sewers lead back to the Citadel?"

"Heh," Smithers gave a smirk. "Let's just say, I went around their archives section and found an old map to a nearby sewage system indicated only as Crestholm Channels. From the looks of the sewage system maps, Crestholm Channels had been long abandoned almost forty-five years ago due to the increase in modernization of the Crown City. My my, how wasteful and careless can you get. I have carefully witnessed it and many of these closed chambers do lead to the underground of the Citadel. Now it is easier to gain entry without facing that ridiculous blockade that your former superiors created."

I could see Ignis raising an eyebrow, but behind his sunglasses, no one can tell. I decided to take on the conversation in his steed. "You're already doing something illegal in Lucis overall, Mr. Smithers," I said to him. "Even here in Lestallum and the rest of Lucis, we have to have special permission from the monarchy and the high council to gain access to places like that."

"Even for the sake of your thousands of years of history and legacy of your country?" Smithers raised an eyebrow right at us. "Besides, you have neither a king, nor a high council, for you to gain approval, therefore—"

"Therefore, it is up to the marshal to approve or deny that request." Right then, Ignis interrupted the senior archivist's proposal right at us. "In the absence of the Lucian monarchy or the high council, the most senior surviving shield of the monarchy is to be the interim authority over the entire kingdom, which in this case, would be Marshal Cor Leonis."

"And this is coming from the one who is to become the future royal adviser to the Chosen King," Smithers reacted. I can already see Talcott feeling uncomfortable with where this conversation is leading. "If you were the one to be the interim chancellor to this entire Kingdom of Lucis, what would you say?"

Ignis stood up with the help of his cane. "There are several ways to record history and preserve them for the new generations of Lucians to come, Mr. Smithers, but desecrating the Citadel for that reason alone is not one of them." He then took a pause and changed his tone. "Now, if you will excuse me, I need to step out and have a bit of fresh air, thank you."

 _That did it_ , my voice spoke inside of me. I may not be able to tell through his sunglasses, but I can already tell by his trembling voice that this senior archivist's proposal of breaking in the Citadel through the old sewage system is an insult. Among all the people I have met who knew King Noctis well, Ignis clearly is the one who knew him best. Smithers didn't seem phased with Ignis's reaction and continued on with the subject anyway.

"Due to the nature of your past, the both of you, I am going to need your assistance to this huge opportunity," he went on. Talcott lifted his head from his laptop and gave a slight frown.

"I think I'll pass," Talcott crossed his arms. "I'm already at work with my graduate thesis, but I don't want that thesis to have scourging around the sewers involved in it. I'm a future historian, not an archaeologist."

"You do know that your past was the reason why I hired the three of you," Smithers went on. "Two former Kingsglaives and one former hunter. With all your battling and adventuring skills, I'm sure we can master the complicated sewage map of the Crestholm Channels easy, don't you think?"

"What the heck are we fighting against in the sewers?" Talcott frowned. "The Starscourge already ended. The only thing that we'd be battling would be the dirty water that's flowing through the sewage system and sewer rats— if they still exist."

I also began my own reaction. "Sir, just because I was a Glaive, doesn't mean I know the ins and outs of the Citadel no matter how you look at it. Most Glaives spent their entire careers at war against Niflheim right outside Insomnia, and in my case, outside Lucis. It's also useless to ask Ignis because he's blind."

"And even then, it's the sewers!" Talcott added. "Ignis isn't gonna join in that underground expedition whether he's blind or not. The Citadel was practically his second home, but with all the mess that happened inside the Citadel I'm sure with all the damages that the former enemy have caused, the Citadel would be unrecognizable inside now."

"Hmph, you may have valid reasons, but it was your marshal and that interim Glaive captain and that head hunter who made the decision to lock up the Citadel after the Starscourge right away. How can all three of them know when they have never entered the Citadel all that time themselves?"

"Even then," I answered, "breaking in the Citadel, bypassing Marshal Cor, Libertus, and Dave, all for the sake of historical preservation of Lucis is wrong. You've been living here in Lucis for almost ten years now because your home country pretty much went in ruins because of the Long Night, and you still know little of true Lucian thought. Regardless of what may happened during Insomnia's downfall, all Lucians highly revered and truly loved the kings of the Lucis Caelum line. Our last king, King Noctis, was our one and only hope to true peace and salvation. He may have brought back the light, but there is no peace. And for that, it's best that we keep the Citadel shut down for good until further notice. I'm sure Marshal Cor had his prior instructions several years ago prior to the downfall of Insomnia those fifteen years ago and passed it along to his subordinates, Monica Elshett and Dustin Ackers, and eventually, both interim Kingsglaive captain Libertus Ostium and head hunter Dave Auburnbrie. With respect to Ignis and his two close friends, Prompto and Gladio, it was best to let the three find their own inner peace for the loss of their brother." I paused, stood up from my seat, and faced my supervisor. "You don't have to think like a Lucian just to sink all of this in, but how would you feel from an Accordian perspective if your Secretary Claustra met her demise all of a sudden?"

Still, my explanation did not phase this Altissian senior archivist. Why did the library hire this guy anyway? Never mind that he's a brilliant and dedicated archivist, but this is just being arrogant. Just as the conversation was about to continue, I heard the office door opening.

"Ignis, you're back?" Talcott's eyes widened. "Are you alright?"

The blind historical adviser tapped his sunglasses. "Very much, Talcott. My apologies for stepping out of the meeting."

"No, no. You're right, Ignis," Smithers sighed, crossing his arms. "That was rather insensitive of me. I have almost forgotten that you and the late King Noctis have been the closest of bosom friends. Although I have my sympathies for you for your loss of your dear friend, I—"

"Mr. Smithers," Ignis suddenly interrupted him. "When are you proposing for this… sewage system break-in… to take place?"

Smithers showed a rather shocked expression. "Ignis, I thought… well… I was hoping we can all go together to Insomnia first thing tomorrow morning and begin the sewage system investigation to the Citadel. The earlier, the better, before those three fanatic factions suddenly create some civil war and break in and start looting the royal palace."

I was about to say something when Ignis signaled his finger for me and Talcott to remain silent. We let Ignis do the talking this time. "Is it just us, the Lestallum Library archives staff?"

Smithers shrugged his shoulders. "Why, do you have more reasons to refuse this expedition, Ignis?"

"May I suggest bringing along three more?"

"Three more? In addition to the four of us in this office?"

"Yes. My dear friends, Gladio and Prompto, and Gladio's sister, Iris. And I have plenty good reasons why we should bring the three of them along."

"Oh? What are they?"

I could see Ignis share a glint on his face. "When we do… get inside the Citadel… along with the documents and other intel that we may gather regarding the true legacy and history of the Kings of Lucis, you will also need a very capable photographer to visually document the chambers inside the Citadel right after the Starscourge. I know Prompto very well. He isn't an award-winning photographer of Lucis for nothing, you know."

 _What on earth is Ignis saying here?_ I heard Talcott whispering softly on my ear.I hushed him and let the two men continue with their conversation.

"Ah, yes, Prompto Argentum, the famous freelance photographer," Smithers nodded. "His photographs are strikingly real and they really do capture such emotions of different people in all paths of life. I have heard rumors that among all the more renowned photographers throughout Eos, your friend also possesses the most up close and personal photos of the late King Noctis since his childhood years, is this true?"

Ignis cleared his throat. "I believe you must ask Prompto that question yourself. Now, moving on. Because of my unfortunate blindness, the Amicitias are the next people you should turn to in regards to the ins and outs of the Citadel. Their father, the late Clarus Amicitia, is the head of the Lucian royal high council and also one of the late King Regis' closest friends. Gladio is still currently serving as an interim officer of the Kingsglaive and Iris is also a hunter. The siblings would be able to talk to the marshal and Dave regarding this important… quest. If we are to face any remaining danger inside those sewers, at least we have the Amicitias, as well as former Glaive Briony and former hunter Talcott, to fend off these possible monsters and protect the both of us, you being a pacifist and I being a blind man, from getting killed. Well?"

Talcott gasped in surprise to hear this change of tone. "Are you serious, Ignis? We're… really going to break in the Citadel?"

"Well, not quite breaking in now if Gladio and Iris are going to talk to both Marshal Cor and Dave about us entering the Citadel for historical archives purposes…" I shrugged my shoulders.

The young intern then brought up another question. "What if the Amicitias fail in gaining permission from Marshal Cor and Dave regarding the Citadel?"

"Then that's when the term _breaking in_ will finally apply," Smithers crossed his arms. "I refuse to be refused again! If they are there to protect the Citadel from infidel factions like The Republic, The Imps, and the cult of psychos, it will be a lot better if historians and archivists would be the only ones to gain entry, don't you think?"

Ignis led out a sigh. "Let us not be hasty, but let's just hope that we do get our permission granted."

"Very well," Smithers clapped his hands. "Now, it may be early, but let's all take a break from all these revisions for the next edition of the Cosmogony. Therefore for today, why don't we all take the day off and prepare for tomorrow's quest?"

"You're letting us go home, Mr. Smithers?" Talcott blinked in surprise.

"Do you have a problem with this, Talcott?"

The intern shook his head. "No, I'm not questioning. I'm just surprised, that's all."

"Well then! First thing in the morning, we shall all meet at the lobby of the library. Ignis, be sure you let your friends know about this, alright?"

"Will do. Thank you."

We packed up our things immediately. Smithers though caught me with the old notebooks and approached the table. "Well, well? I've never seen these materials before. What are these?"

"Oh!" I exclaimed. "We had a donor earlier today and gave us these ancient notebooks. Original manuscripts to the first edition of the Cosmogony. What a find, I say!"

"Is that so?"

"Talcott and I verified its validity. They're the real deal."

"Then, bring those notebooks along with you in our trip tomorrow. Maybe we can use it as reference, just in case."

I agreed to bring the notebooks with us, as long as the third notebook in Prompto's hands remained safe. I placed the two notebooks in a separate box to keep them from falling apart and placed it in my messenger bag. We then greeted each other a bye as we all exited the office. We also said our byes to the rest of the library staff while they continue to service the public with their books. Smithers went on a different direction, with the three of us approaching Tostwell Grill, where Prompto, Tempie, and another clerk named Tonya went to pick up our lunch orders.

When we found them at the marketplace, sitting at the table, we met them and told them the whole story. It turns out that Ignis did not just step out of the office to get some fresh air. He already made contacts with Cor himself and explained to him the situation. He hasn't really mentioned what they really talked about, but from the sounds of it, Cor gave the okay for us to enter the Citadel. However, because we don't want to get caught by all three factions present in the city and actually being permitted to enter the Citadel, the Crestholm Channels sewage system is still the only way for us to enter the Citadel without being seen by the public.

Few minutes later, Gladio and Iris arrived, just in time when lunch arrived. Ignis told them the entire story of what happened after Gladio and Prompto left. Talcott and I also learned that the four friends, including the prince, already had their stint inside Crestholm Channels themselves for some car parts requested by Cindy. I laughed at first of the main reason, but Prompto insisted that those car parts hidden in the sewers really made the late King Regis' car, the Regalia, a lot more powerful through the darkness.

Gladio was up for the idea, but Prompto really hated his stint at the sewers, not because it was dangerous and scary, but mostly, the sewers smelled really bad.


End file.
